Azure Throne
by Storm VII
Summary: AU. Set in the Dark Age's the entire BlazBlue cast plays part in dramatic tale of the Azure Throne which is currently held by Rachel Alucard. There is little peace to be had as armies from the neighboring kingdom hope to entice a war, and a man is rumored to be raising an army for a revolution. A tale of drama, growth, and love...
1. Prologue: Misfortune

**Azure Throne**

 _Prologue: Misfortune_

 _Year 999 *Spring_

Rendul, a kingdom of Warriors. In this land the strongest rule and the weak serve them. This land was founded over three thousand years ago and while the kingdom has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, the red flag continues to wave over the capital. Even in today's world it is still know as a fierce warrior nation. The lands are ripe with game and the grounds are fertile, but this land has witnessed more combat, wars, and uprisings than every other land combined, even more than its neighboring kingdom Kagutsuchi.

It's here in the capital Arcdel, where our story begins, but not in the castle. No, this epic begins on the streets as one young seven year old boy tries to provide for his two younger siblings, all three dressed in ragged and torn clothing. He walks along slowly, leather straps around his torso to function as a carrier for his two year old sister as his four year old brother holds his hand. They walk the streets occasionally noticed by an adult, but it's always the same; people notice the three and then they go about their business, not bothering to do anything. The young child of seven notices this, but he doesn't care. He'd given up on relying on adults for help a long time ago.

"Brother, I'm hungry," Jin, the younger brother says trying to stay close to his older sibling. He has blonde hair and bright green eyes.

"'Ungry," Saya, the two year old on the eldest's back says. She had blonde hair like the middle child, but her eyes are a deep beautiful shade of blue.

"We'll be at the bakery soon," the eldest tells them. "Just wait until we get there, alright?" Seeing his younger brother nod the eldest keeps his eyes focused forward. "Don't worry we'll get the bread and make it through another day, we always manage." His little sister gives a small murmur as the carrier begins to fall, he quickly tightens it and continues.

Inside the bakery they see the same lady running the store as always. She's not exactly memorable, a little overweight with her black hair tied up in a bun. She scowled at the three as they walked inside, well she didn't necessarily scowl at Jin and Saya, the eldest however...

"I already told you, don't come to me begging for scraps, I'm sick of it!" she shouted, causing Saya to stir. The toddlers older brother rocked himself on the balls of his feet, trying to calm her with the easy movement. "What are you still doing here?" the baker's wife asked as she grabbed a broom to shoo them out.

"Well we have the money!" the oldest argued back, holding out a small, filthy sack that was only partially full. From within he drew four pieces of copper and brought them out for her to see. "We want one of the big loaves!"

"Where'd you get that money?" the woman asked with a hateful glare directed to the eldest.

"We saved it up," he countered curtly.

"You mean you stole it."

"No, we found it," the eldest insisted. "Look, do want this money or not?" He jingled the coins in the bag, making the ones in his hand seem all the more tempting.

"...Fine," she groaned as she grabbed one of the larger pieces of bread that had been ordered. She walked over to the children as she took a look at the oldest before snatching the bag from his hand and shoving the loaf of bread at him. It was older than the others and a bit stale, but she could afford to give it to them without worry of reputation, just like she could nab the copper in his bag. "I hope you choke on it."

The eldest glared at the breadmaker's wife before turning and running out of there with a need for wrath eating at his soul. "OLD HAG!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"Dumb kids," the woman smirked to herself as she tossed the bag in the air and felt its weight and heard the connections of the contents. Feeling a bit giddy with herself she opened it and found... rocks. Not a copper in the bunch, just worthless rocks. "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... RAGNAROK! YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" she shouted out the door as the silver haired boy ran with his siblings.

"The name's RAGNA! Get it right you idiot!" he shouted as he ran, laughing all the while. This wasn't the first time he'd been called a bastard, and it probably wouldn't be the last. Ever since he'd been born to his parents with his strange silver hair and mismatched eyes, he'd always been scorned. His left eye was green, like his brother's, but his right one was blood-red. Just for that arcane appearance, he was considered a demon and an outcast by the entire town.

Eventually he came with his siblings to his current home outside of town, just under the bridge which travelers and merchants used to get into the capital. It wasn't much at all, but it was at least someplace dry when it snowed or rained. Ragna slowly undid the leather bindings as he gently put his younger sister on the ground.

"Well bro, sis, lunch is served!" he said with a large grin as he tore the bread into three pieces. He handed one to Saya who mumbled at 'thank you' as she began to bite into the bread. Ragna was about to hand the second piece of bread to his younger brother, but when he turned to Jin he was met with a glare. "What's with that look?"

"You're doing it again," Jin told him. "You always take much less than you give me or Saya..."

"I don't see why you're complaining, just take the bread and eat it," Ragna said, thrusting the bread into Jin's hands. He then promptly fell on his bum besides Saya before tearing of a large piece of his portion with his teeth and proceeded to chew it. Knowing his brother wouldn't change his mind, Jin sat down next to Ragna and started chewing his piece. It didn't take the children long at all to finish their small meal.

"I hope you two got your strength up with that, 'cause we're going hunting," Ragna said as he rummaged behind one of the bridge poles and grabbed out two rusty knives and handed one of them to his brother.

"And you want to stay strong with what little you had?" Jin asked, glaring at Ragna. "You barely had anything after you gave Saya and I our bread."

"I wasn't hungry," Ragna said stubbornly before his stomach gave a small rumble. He blushed in mild embarrassment as he refused to face Jin. "Well, not as hungry as usual."

"Ragna, you're going to starve like this," Jin told him. "Next time try to be a little greedy, at least a little bit."

"Hell no," Ragna retroted, returning his younger brother's earlier glare. "I'm never putting myself ahead of you two. I promised mom and dad I'd look after you before they died. I'm the oldest so let me worry about it."

"But-!"

"Just be quiet and let's get going," Ragna ordered as he started redoing the carrier. "We don't have a ton of daylight left and I don't like our chances at finding a place to stay in the woods." Noticing his younger brother's silence he let out a sigh. "Jin, I'm just worried about you and Saya just like I know you two worry about me. Just focus on finding a deer, if we pull this off all of us will eat like those fat nobles!"

"Alright," Jin admitted in reluctance as he and his siblings began to walk off. As they began walking a Red Jay whizzed by.

"Birdy! Birdy!" Saya cheered out from her carrier. Ragna and Jin let out a small smile at their sister's happy attitude. She always loved seeing birds, especially red one, well anything that was red.

"I see it Saya," Ragna assured her. "C'mon, maybe we can find some of those red berries the two of you love or something."

While the three trudged the wilderness in hopes of finding a dear to provide them with food, far away atop the castle wall, the current king of Rendul stood overlooking his kingdom. His name was Argus Glassfield, and despite his ironic last name, he was anything but fragile. His long peach colored hair and chin hair would catch his foes off guard and provide them with their last mistake. As he stood overlooking his kingdom with his teal king's coat blowing in the wind, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw Tillani, an elderly maid and good friend standing patiently.

"So..." the king began, not know how to word this question.

"Congratulations Majesty," the Tillani said with a small bow. "Your wife has just finished giving birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl."

Argus looked at the maid with an unchanging face before the tiniest of smiles hit his face. "I take it the midwife is done then?" he asked. The maid nodded. "Wonderful, I suppose I shouldn't keep my new daughter waiting now should I?"

"Not if you don't wish to anger the queen milord," the maid said in an even tone with caused the king to cringe slightly. "She wanted me to give you a message as she gave birth, I believe it was 'Make sure that idiotic asshole knows-"

"Yes Tillani, I understand what my wife's getting at." The king let out a sigh. "You lady folk are going to be the death of me, and now I hear there's another to add to your ranks?"

"Cut the jaded expression Argus," Tillani told him, not bother to use his title since they'd been old friends. "We all know you not-so-secretly wanted a girl. Go on, she's waiting for you."

Not deciding to waste another moment, Argus headed down the steps and walked into the birth chambers. He saw his wife, Meleena, waiting for him, a tight bundle of teal cloth wrapped around who newborn, who was sleeping gently. She slowly offered her husband the bundle, and Argus held his firstborn child for the first time. She'd inherited his peach-brown hair instead of his wife's black color. She was tiny, even for a newborn, but he didn't care in the slightest. There was only one word that came to mind as he looked at her.

"Perfect... She's perfect," he said as he looked upon his daughter with gentle eyes. "Just like her mother."

"Glad you've learned that much," Meleena told him before groaning. "I am NOT doing that again, so I'm glad you're happy with a girl."

"Giving birth couldn't have been too bad," the king muttered. The glare his wife gave him was absolutely chilling. "Uh... we still need to come up with a name for our newest one, love. The three of us are going to be together for a long time."

"Just the three of us," Meleena thought as she took the child back in her arms. "She'll be the one who completes our family. Our beautiful family of three..."

"Trinity then," Argus said. "She'll be the third part of the royal family. The brightest and most beautiful part of all of Rendul."

"Seems only fitting, as we're her parents," the queen said as she snuggled with the child. That was before there was a knock at the door. Trinity began to stir, so Argus walked towards the door to tell the person on the other side off.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"I'm sorry my lord," a soldier from the other side apologized. "But you're brother has returned from his journey and he demands to see you, do you wish for me to send him in? I'm sure he wants to meet his niece."

"That depends," Argus began, his tone deadly serious. "Does he smell of blood?"

"He..." the guard gulped. "He reeks of it my lord. It's... overwhelming."

"Tell him to bathe, and then I'll see him myself, but not before," Argus said, ending the discussion there as he went back to spend a little more quality time with his family.

 _Later_

The three orphans from earlier were walking to their sleeping spot under the bridge. It wasn't the safest spot, or the warmest, but they had to make due with what they had. Speaking of what they had, the three's hunt had turned up rather bountiful to their standards. Not only had Ragna found plenty of the red berries that Saya lover, but he'd even managed to get a few rabbits.

"Looks like we've got a feast," Ragna said with a grin on his face.

 _'I've never heard of a feast made up of crimsonberries and rabbits meat,'_ Jin thought to himself as he carried the wood to use as a fire both for the rabbit meat and their own personal warmth. "I guess, but what was that thing you were picking earlier?"

"Just a little something extra, you'll love it," Ragna assured as Saya giggled into his back while chewing the occasion berry. "Try to just be happy we found something and go with it, you could learn a lesson from Saya."

"I guess..." Jin said as the got back near the bridge. After making a fire while Ragna skinned the rabbits they waited for their meal to cook over the fire. Saya was out of her carried, but she continued to lean against the eldest for warmth. After a few moments, Jin noticed Ragna take something out of his pocket and sprinkle it over the rabbits. "What's that?"

"A trick I learned from the butcher when I stole that roasted chicken from him a month ago," Ragna told him. "He used to put this stuff over the meat after he cooked it, called it _spicing_ it."

"Neat," Jin said as he took one of the rabbits that were ready off of the fire and bit into it. His eyes grew wide in amazement. "Brother, this tastes so much better! What did you grab?"

"Uh..." Ragna scratched the back of his head. "I dunno... I just grabbed something that looked close to what the butcher guy was using."

"You... guessed," Jin said with disbelief. "Brother..."

"He it turned out fine, didn't it!?" Ragna shouted at him as he gave Saya another Rabbit before biting into a third one. "I'll have to remember that stuff for next time though. Maybe I'll become a master chef or something!"

The stars were out when Ragna and the others managed to finish their meal. Jin laid close to fire as Saya snuggled closely to him. Ragna remained awake as he proceeded to poke the fire a few times to keep it going.

"Ra-na," he heard Saya mutter from Jin's arms. "Sing song."

"Saya it's late, can't you go to bed without it tonight?" Ragna asked her.

"Pwease?" Saya asked cutely. Ragna dared not turned to her, for if he did, he knew that he'd face the one opponent he'd never conquer, not matter how many times he faced it: Saya's puppy dog eyes. After trying to stay silent Ragna took a quick glance and knew he'd lost.

"Fine..." he said clearing his throat. The song was one his mother had sung to three and they could never stay awake after hearing the soothing melody. Ragna singing it both calmed them and helped remember their parents fondly, even before they'd been killed and their house had been burnt to the ground. Ragna remembered his parents too, despite all of the grief they'd gotten due to his appearance and reckless attitude they'd never resented him for it once. They'd even given him a brother and sister because they knew the best people to understand someone is family. Ragna began singing in a soft voice.

 _"Beautiful dreamers,_  
 _Wake unto me_  
 _Starlight and dewdrops_  
 _Are awaiting thee_

 _Sounds of the rude world_  
 _Heard in the day_  
 _Led by the moonlight_  
 _Have all passed away_

 _Beautiful dreamers,_  
 _King and Queen of my song_  
 _List' while I woo thee_  
 _With soft melody_

 _Gone are the cares of_  
 _Life's busy throng_  
 _Beautiful dreamers_  
 _Awake unto me_  
 _Beautiful dreamers,_  
 _Awake unto me,_  
 _Awake unto me."_

When the song was done Ragna could hear Jin and Saya's almost inaudible breathing as they slept. He turned his attention to the fire and proceeded to add a few stick to it, hoping to keep the fire going for even a while longer. He owed his siblings that much... after all, he'd been the one to ruin everything.

*Meanwhile*

Argus sighed to himself as he braced his being to open the door in front of him. After pausing for a moment, he finally knew that this conversation needed to take place. He rapped his knuckles on the door three times and waited for a response.

"Come in, door's always open, and kings don't really need to knock," he heard the voice from inside say. Argus paused in infuriation. "Come on Argus, we haven't seen each other in months, we got plenty to talk about."

Argus entered the door where he saw his brother, Azrael Glassfield, who was sitting in a chair waiting for him, one leg resting his knee while he leaned back with his arms crossed, freshly bathed. He was wearing his traditional white pants and overcoat, which was decorated in a few parts with the kingdom's red insignia. While Argus had inherited his mother's peach-blond hair, Azrael had gotten his dad's deep blue color for both his unkept and messy hair and his small beard.

"I hear a bit of celebration is in order, even more so know that we have a new royal to add to the bunch!" Azrael said with a laugh as he grabbed a bottle of his favorite brand of liquor off his desk.

"Where have you been?" Argus demanded, his eyes narrow at his younger brother. "The guards said you smelled like blood when you came in and I want to know why!"

"Oh, and here I thought I'd managed to bathe most of it off while I was on the road, my bad," Azrael said, clearly not bothered with the look he was getting. "I guess you just get used to the smell and don't notice it after being covered in the source for a few months."

"You went to the Fullnear, the country of the Sea Bandits, didn't you?" the king asked, not dropping his accusing tone.

"Come on brother, you know me better than that," Azrael said with a chuckle as he opened the bottle of liquor and poured it in two glasses he had waiting on his desk. "Of course I did."

"How many... how many lives did you take!?" Argus demanded, his eyes narrowed on Azrael.

"...Enough," Azrael said looking at his brother, not bothering to hand him the drink just yet, he didn't want him spilling any of the stuff in his rant; the stuff was high quality. "What, I think it's only fair don't you?"

"I'm shocked that you weren't chased back with a full battalion on your heels! Azrael, you may have just started a war!"

"If I did they brought this upon themselves when they tried to attack the capital. Weaklings could only manage to kill five of our guards."

"And ten commoners," Argus said, his anger starting to mount.

"Well one of those commoners gave birth to a devil itself, so I'd say she got off easy. But I digress. Anyways you actually don't have to worry about a war." Azrael told him. "I wrecked their armies pretty badly on my own, and added the fact I'm just your 'lowly second-in-command' I think they have reason enough to fear us. Trust me, we won't be hearing from them anytime soon. Same time though, we should probably stay to our sides of the borders."

"...You used it, didn't you?" Argus questioned.

"The Enchanted Dragunov? Yeah I used it, I was taught how to release it for a reason you know. What? You afraid ole high and mighty is going to come of the perch and kick my ass for it? You're insane if you think I'm still afraid of that freak..."

"That freak was still the one who gave us the sacred training, and the one who trained our forefathers, show some respect..." Argus said with a sigh. "Look, I need you to look more seriously into your work, you're acting too reckless for what I need from you."

"Reckless? I've always been reckless," Azrael said with a laugh. "What work could you possibly be handing off to me?"

"How about protector of the inheritor?" Argus questioned, Azrael's eyes narrowed. "I know you hate the term 'babysitting', but as the king, and of a warrior kingdom no less, I need to have-!"

"Save your speech, I'll do it," Azrael groaned, surprising his brother. "And I've got it, no more reckless stunts from me, I'll play a good dog."

"At least you're cooperating with me," Argus said with relief. "Now are you going to give me that glass or not?"

"You're right, an evening like this deserves a special drink to go with it," Azrael said as he handed his brother one of the glasses and took the other in his hand. "To my idiot brother and that whelp of a son he'll have to name king!" Azrael gave a hearty laugh as he began to down his drink.

"Daughter," Argus corrected. He noticed his brother double over and begin the pound his chest, apparently choking on his own drink. "You weren't told?"

"No I wasn't..." Azrael said as he coughed. "I thought I had a nephew. Guess it is your fault though."

"Excuse me?" Argus demanded.

"Every kingdom needs a boy to the throne, but you and the wife are probably too old to have another one. You should've had a boy to have the throne, not some prissy girl who ever man in the kingdom is going to try to-"

"I get the picture," Argus interrupted before his brother could turn vulgar. "But I still feel fortunate to have my daughter with me... she looks like mom did, you remember?"

"How could I not, you were always her favorite," Azrael said with a laugh.

"Yeah, well you were father's, but look who's king now?" Argus burned his brother.

"Oh shut up," Azrael said. "Go back and see your wife and kid, god knows what insanity they're going to have to endure from you."

"At least I'm actually married, I don't think I've ever heard of you bedding a woman."

"They'd just slow me down. I just need my muscles, not a woman's touch and certainly don't need a shrimp that only knows how to shit and scream... no offense."

"You'd never know until you found someone," Argus told him as he stood. "Don't drink yourself into stupor, we are having a banquet tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be sober, got to give the kid a good first impression and all that," Azrael waved his brother off. When the elder brother was gone the blue haired beast smiled to himself. _'I wonder what he'd say if I let him know I broke more than just their armies. But I don't think I need to worry about anyone from Fullnear saying anything. After all, corpses can't talk..."_

 _Year 1001 *Winter_

Ragna's life hadn't been easy since his parent's had been killed in the Fullnear attack and he'd had to escape his burning home with Jin and Saya, but now his life had gotten harder. Saya had grown up and was now a vibrant young four year old who tried to help her siblings survive, but then she'd caught the plague. Ragna and Jin had begun working hard in their hunting and gathering supplies, Ragna could even take on a fully grown bear by himself with just a knife, but it wasn't easy. The only gift he'd managed to get from this mess were his muscles which had given him perfectly toned arms and washboard abs, and his knowledge of cooking, which he'd been experimenting with at dinner and made some pretty damn good meals.

At the same time though, Ragna would give up every muscle fiber on his body and everything he ever learned about cooking just so Saya could get better. Even when he had taken Saya to see a doctor they all told him the same thing, the disease was terminal, she had no further chance... Even in this light Ragna refused to give up.

Later one day after he exited the blacksmith shop with his siblings as he sold off yet another bearhide (Saya had insisted on coming with them and getting some air) and walked down the path to get out of the village, he noticed a large gathering of children in front of the orphanage. Well, less of a large crowd of kids and more like the entire orphanage. He saw them all standing in a neat row and they all looked like they'd been bathed recently and were in their best clothing.

"What's going on?" Ragna asked the woman who ran the orphanage. She turned to glare at the Ragna, and the two others that had never been invited in.

"Get out of here, you're going to ruin everything!" she hissed at him. She was about to shoo him away before she realized how filthy he and his siblings were. "Actually on second thought, come over here and stand next to them. They'll all look even better that way."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Ragna was annoyed at this woman's attitude, she was giving him commands but not answers, so why should he listen to her?

"A noble from Kagutushi is coming to see if they can adopt a child, so try to make yourselves useful for once and try to make them look good!"

Ragna was about to say a few choice words to the hag, but then he realized something. _'Wait a minute, if I can get them to take Saya, maybe they'll be able to cure her sickness! I hear medicine in Kagutsuchi is a lot stronger than they stuff they make here.'_

"Jin, Saya, let's go along with this," Ragna told them. Jin looked at his brother in surprise before Ragna gave a quick glance to Saya. Jin, who was quick to catch on to Ragna's cues, understood and agreed with his brother's thinking. When the caretaker and the children weren't looking, Ragna tried his best to wipe of as much dirt from Saya face and arrange her hair as best as he could. Sadly the matron noticed this and sent a glare his way, so Ragna decided to run his hands through his spiky hair to make it look even more messed up to appease her.

A few minutes later a carriage arrived and out stepped two adults, the wife who seemed a bit on the skinny side, and the husband who evened it out with his somewhat bulky form (but not grossly overweight like some nobles). The two walked by the children, trying to get a proper view of the candidates for adoption. All of the children looked at the two with bright smiles on their faces trying to make themselves become noticed. All except Ragna, who wore his usual scowl that he had whenever he had to deal with someone who wasn't Jin or Saya. When he saw Ragna's scowl the husband stopped and looked down at the boy in front of him.

 _'He looks like a fighter certainly,'_ he thought to himself. _'But why does he look so filthy?'_ "You, what's your name?"

Every child in line gave a small jolt of surprise as they noticed that Ragna was getting called on; Ragna, the devil child himself. Ragna was surprised too and didn't quite know how to respond, so he decided to do what came naturally.

"Ragna," he told the noble. The caretaker glared daggers at Ragna for not calling the man by his title.

"I take it you don't live in orphanage," the woman said. Ragna was about to shake his head when the caretaker interrupted.

"Oh, he does," she told them nervously. She sent the rest of the kids a look and got them all nodding with her. "He just got into a fight with these two beforehand and messed up his attire. I apologize for that my lord."

"Don't take me for a fool," the noble said with authority, causing the woman to yelp. "Those clothes are lit more than rags on them, you expect me to believe you brought them here dressed in that while the rest of them are in proper attire?"

"T-They had torn all of their other clothes, milord," she tried to persuade, but the old man wasn't having any of it, nor was his wife.

"Where are your parents Ragna?" the wife asked.

"Dead, they got killed three years ago in an attack," Ragna said, still keeping his tone even and voice emotionless.

"And you've been living on your own since then?" the husband asked.

"Yes."

"How old are you?"

"Nine. My younger brother Jin is six and my sister Saya is four."

Both of the nobles glanced to the other children in rags before turning to Ragna and continuing to question him. "How do you eat?"

"I hunt animals and I gather berries."

"For all three of you? You don't go to anyone for help?"

"...No one is ever willing, and I still need to feed to them."

The married nobles looked at each other for a moment before nodding. "I think we've reached a decision."

"What?" the lady who ran orphanage exclaimed as a few of the kids groaned. "HIM!?"

"Him," the husband said.

"I..." Ragna began with solemn eyes. "I'm sorry, but I can't I have my siblings to take care off. I can't accept." Most of the children had excited looks on their faces, they were still in the runnings! "But could you take my sister Saya? She's too little for this a needs a home."

The woman looked at the younger sister, who gave a small gulp. She knelt down in front of the child to get a good look at her. After staring at her a moment, she shook her head. "We can't. Your sister has the plague, she's not meant long for this world."

"But you have doctors in Kagutsuchi right? Can't someone look at her there?"

The noble woman shook her head. "No one survives long with this plague. I'm sorry, but we can't take home a child who's this ill and going to die soon."

"No..." Ragna said looking deflated.

"My offer still stands," the husband told him. Again, a few of the other orphans groaned. "Your sister may be ill, but your brother looks strong. He can survive here, and due to your apparent reputation, this would work out well for everyone."

Ragna's mind was going at a million miles per hour. He could escape this, a life where he only knew hatred, and he'd live like a noble. He'd be able to eat the greatest of foods, sleep in a warm bed, and never have to treat everyday like it was a fight to survive. But then he looked at Jin and Saya. Both were trying to subtly motion for him to accept, but how could live with himself? True things would look better for Jin, hell the orphanage might actually accept him now, but what about Saya? Would Jin know how to take care of her? What if Jin couldn't and he'd never know that his sister was dead and he could've prevented it. So... he already knew what he had to do.

"I still can't, only I know how to take care of Saya." The kids weren't sure how to react, true Ragna didn't accept the offer, but he might've been blowing it for the rest of them. "But could you take my brother? I don't want to take away my brother's chance at a good life anymore than I already have."

"Be quite!" the caretaker hissed in his ear. "You're being completely disrespectful to them!" She looked up and was about to apologize for Ragna's behavior, but the noble's attention was focused solely on Jin.

While Jin wasn't nearly as fit or tall as Ragna, he was still three years younger than his older brother. While Ragna had grown a more rugged appearance, Jin actually had one that looked like it could pass for a noble's under all of that dirt. If Jin hadn't been in his brother's constant company, some of the girls in town might've actually thought he was very handsome.

"Your name is Jin?" the nobleman asked.

"Yes, sir," Jin said, trying to be respectful despite his shock at what Ragna had just given him.

"Because of your brother's care towards you and your sister I'll allow you to keep name, my son," he told Jin. He then turned to the caretaker and spoke to her in a cold tone. "I've made my decision. Since this child isn't from your orphanage I have no reason to pay you for raising him. Goodbye."

With that Jin slowly gave both of his siblings one last hug and made his way onto the carriage with his new parents. As it started to begin it's journey back to Kagutsuchi Ragna took off running after it.

"JIN!" he shouted as he ran. His younger brother stuck his head out of the opening. "TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! PROMISE ME!"

"I PROMISE! YOU NEED TO DO THE SAME!" Jin yelled back, tears falling from his eyes at their departure. After a moment, the carriage was gone.

"Take care," Ragna said as he slowed to a stop. He stared at where it had disappeared to before turning. As soon as he did he felt a fist smashed into his skull.

"THAT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME!" one of the kids from the orphanage yelled as he hit Ragna again in his jaw, proceeding to send him sprawling to his feet. Ragna could've gotten up and kicked his ass, but that would only provoke him and the other kids further, maybe far enough to hurt the already frail Saya. Ragna decided to take the undeserved punishment.

"STUPID DEVIL!" another kid yelled as she joined in the beating of Ragna. Soon all of the kids had joined in and were hitting and kicking Ragna restlessly as he just laid there and took it.

"STOP! YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" Saya shouted as she ran forward and tried to stop the attackers. She was unable to send any of them away and one of them pushed her away to where she fell flat on her bottom. Ragna was about to retaliate, but noticing that they were only after him not Saya, he just decided to give a small cough of blood.

"Is that the best you've got?" he asked, only proving to enrage the kids further. And in all that time where he laid there and took the punishment, not the caretaker, not any of the passing adults, not any of the people running the stores, no one came to help him. Why would they? He was just Devil in their eyes.

 _Two Hours Later_

Saya was crying. She had been crying ever since the bullies had gone back into the orphanage not bothering to even look back at her or Ragna. She continued to cry as she knelt close Ragna's corpse, slowly raising his head and holding it close to her chest. "Ragna... wake up... please wake up!" she cried, hoping for a miracle.

She got one. Ragna squinted his eyes and slowly began to stir letting out a small groan. "Not so loud Saya..."

"Y-You're alive!" Saya said before giving Ragna a big hug from behind.

"Saya... ribs..." he barely squeaked out. Saya stopped and apologized. "Why is it dark out?

"You were unconscious for an hour after those bullies left," Saya told him mournfully. "What were you thinking!? You could've left and been free of this terrible life, but you nearly got killed by a mob! Why!?"

"Jin wouldn't know how to take care of you," Ragna told her as he slowly made his way up. It was an even bigger miracle that none of his bones appeared to be broken. He tried moving his arms, but his left one layed limp. "Great. Saya, do you still have that piece of bear hide the we were saving?"

Saya nodded as she fished it out of her pocket and handed it Ragna. The mistreated youth took it and folded it with his moving hand before placing it in his mouth and biting down. The smell was bad, but the taste was just plain awful. Ragna steeled himself as he gripped the limp arm with his live one. He snapped it into place and let out a yell as he bit on the leather hard.

"That sucked," Ragna decided to inform Saya as he took out the piece of hide and spit out the taste, his spit crimson from blood. "Sorry I ruined the leather, Saya. I know you were going to patch your dress with it."

Saya shook her head. "I'd rather you used it. Plus, I think it could look good red." Saya noticed Ragna turn his head away. "What's wrong?"

"I hate red," he muttered, surprising Saya whose favorite was still red. "This blood's red, our parent's blood was red, the damn flag that flies over this hellhole is red!" he shouted starting to lose his temper. "But the thing I hate the most is this GOD DAMNED RED EYE!"

"Ragna calm down," Saya tried to calm her brother.

"If it hadn't been for that damned eye those guards may have actually cared about mom and dad and they wouldn't have had to die! If it wasn't for this thing we could've gone to the orphanage and lived there instead of fighting for our lives in the wilds! Maybe you wouldn't have gotten the plague! I'm screwing your life with this-!"

"No you're not!" Saya yelled at him. "You never took anything from me! Not with your eye not with anything! You're fighting for me like you have your entire life! When you couldn't put me on that carriage you put Jin on instead because you love us! Your red eye isn't to blame, it's just another part of you! You should feel proud of it! I don't know anyone else who has something like that! They just can't see that you're special and not a freak."

Ragna didn't say anything, he just sat there in silence before noticing Saya going into a coughing fit. "C'mon, we should get back to the bridge. Hopefully we have enough wood left over from last night. Sorry, but I don't think we'll be getting any dinner."

"That's alright," Saya told him as they managed to stand, Saya trying to support Ragna, though he claimed he didn't need it. "Hey brother, thanks."

"For what?" Ragna had to ask.

"Everything."

 _Four years later *Summer_

Ragna walked slowly back to Saya, carrying a small basket that he'd weaved which was filled with fish. His catch today had been much better than usual, and the herbs he'd found by the creek would improve their taste. _'Almost feel sorry for Jin, I'm probably making better food than he's getting,'_ Ragna thought to himself with a cocky grin.

Things were starting to look up for the Reaper. He'd managed to get a lot more food out of the wilderness and now he was actually getting more than he could carry himself. With all of the work Ragna was doing he had improved immensely in both muscles and in his skills cooking. He'd actually gotten careless in the woods a few times and had to fight off an entire pack of wolves, and actually managed to do it. Ragna was at the peak of physical fitness, but the same couldn't be said about his sister.

Saya had been getting skinning and skinning, now she was having trouble keeping her food down. Ragna tried for as long as he could every day, but he still couldn't find someone to heal Saya. She could barely walk around now and Ragna had to contend with leaving her under the bridge to rest, luckily she'd made it through the past two days without any coughing fits. As he was making his way back he was aware that night was starting to fall.

"Damn it, I was out too long," he thought as he broke into a run, trying to be careful and not drop the fish. As he got closer to the bridge he'd noticed a coughing sound, now it was violent. "Saya!" Ragna yelled as he got closer to Saya.

She looked even worse than the last time she had a fit, her body was covered in sweat and her breathing was labored. She let out another string of coughs into her hand and Ragna saw it had blood on it. His little sister was coughing up blood, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Just relax, I'm going to go get a doctor!" Ragna yelled after he hastily made a fire. Ragna ran through town to the nearest doctor that he knew and pounded his fist on the door. "Open up!"

"Go away!" yelled the doctor inside. I'm busy with a patient!"

"Saya's dying, my sister is dying! HELP HER!" Ragna shouted as hard as he could.

"Then it's about time, she shouldn't have lived this long with the sickness," the doctor inside told him. "Just let her go."

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! SHE'S MY SISTER! HELP HER!" Ragna pounded on the door as hard as he could, actually making crack marks.

"Don't make me call the town guard!" the doctor inside yelled. "They'll lock you away and then what will happen to your sweet sister?"

 _'And they call me the devil,'_ Ragna thought, his rage boiling over. "BASTARD!" he yelled as he ran back to the bridge as fast as he could. One he got back he couldn't hear Saya's coughing, as he managed to get close to her he noticed that she was having trouble focusing on him. "You're going to be alright," he lied to her, trying to give her hope. "The doctor's going to be here any minute, just hang on."

"Rag...na..." Saya could barely say. "Don't... blame... yourself... Did... what... you..."

"Save your strength," Ragna told her, his eyes overflowing with tears as he tried to keep her alive. "Please Saya! Stay alive!"

"I... Love... You..." Saya told her brother. Carefully reaching up and caressing his cheek.

"Saya..." Ragna started to say. "Just... get some rest..." And with that, Ragna sang, tears streaming down his face.

 _"Beautiful dreamer,_  
 _Wake unto me_  
 _Starlight and dewdrops_  
 _Are awaiting thee."_

The fire gave off a small crackle as the dying embers slowly faded.

 _"Sounds of the rude world_  
 _Heard in the day_  
 _Led by the moonlight_  
 _Have all passed away."_

Saya let off another string off weak coughs. Ragna grabbed her hand for comfort, both him and his sister.

 _"Beautiful dreamer,_  
 _Queen of my song_  
 _List' while I woo thee_  
 _With soft melody..."_

Ragna had to strain in order to hear Saya's breathing. Her eyes were entirely unfocused.

 _Gone are the cares of_  
 _Life's busy throng_  
 _Beautiful dreamer_  
 _Awake unto me_  
 _Beautiful dreamer..._  
 _Awake unto me..._  
 _Awake... unto... me..."_

"...Saya?" Saya laid still in the moonlight. Her eyes were closed now as if she were sleeping peacefully. "Saya?" She didn't even move an inch when he said he name. He slowly let go of her hand and let it fall to her side. He refused to comprehend what he was seeing, he refused as hard as he could. "Saya... you can't... you just can't be-!"

The truth hit him.

 ** _"SAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_**

 _Meanwhile_

Jubei was not a happy cat. He'd left the army a long time ago, and now the first time in a while he had both his daughter and niece home he couldn't even go and spend time with them since he patrolling the outer city for the first time in years. He knew he owed Bart a favor for when Kokonoe broke his sword trying to study it, but this was just unfair for him. He needed some quality time with the family, especially since his wife died and he'd been a widower of two years.

"At least I'm just about done," the cat said to himself. That was before he heard it, a loud cry of anguish. "What th' hell?" He took off toward the bridge at the edge of the castle town where he started to hear shouting.

" ** _WHY!? WHY COULDN'T I SAVE HER!? WAS I NOT ENOUGH!? WOULD I NEVER BE ENOUGH!? TELL ME DAMN IT!_** " Jubei found the source of the shouting, a boy cursing the heavens while he held a little girl in his arms.

"Poor kid..." Jubei said as the youth held the body closely and began to cry. "Wait a minute... that hair... HE'S the Devil everyone's been talking about?"

While Jubei had never met Ragna in person or even seen him, he'd heard plenty of things from the people around town. He'd hear that Ragna would try to burn down the orphanage he lived at on a regular basis, how he would often rob shops blind and mess with the guards, stealing their weapons. How he'd make catcalls and give unnerving looks at any lady unfortunate enough to pass him by. And here he was, living under a bridge, crying as he held the body of a little girl, no one here willing to give a damn.

"What sorta town is this?" Jubei said to himself with disgust as he leaped from the bridge and landed behind Ragna. The youth turned in surprise as the cat landed behind him. "Hey easy, I'm not here to hurt ya kid."

"Leave me alone," Ragna growled. "I'm not in the mood for any bullshit..."

"Look, I know where you're coming from kid. I've lost someone important to me too and it ain't easy."

"I had one job..." Ragna could barely say. "I was supposed to look after her... and I failed..."

"How'd she pass?" Jubei had to ask as Ragna held his sister in his arms.

"The plague, she's had it for years..."

 _'Years,'_ Jubei thought speculatively. _'Probably couldn't tell from worry...'_ "Were ya there for her in the ending breaths?"

"Yes..." Ragna could barely say.

"Doing what?"

"Holding Saya's hand... telling my sister it would be alright... and... and singing her favorite lullaby."

 _'He sang her away..._ _He SANG her away.'_ "Kid... I've known a lot of people in my time, a lot of brave men and women who are known for being the greatest of heroes today..." Jubei began.

 _'Great, a lecture,_ ' Ragna thought to himself. _'Is he just going to say keep your chin up and it'll be fine or to stay strong? 'Cause if he does I'll kick his-!'_

"But that was the bravest damn thing I ever heard of."

Ragna looked up and regarded Jubei with surprised eyes, no one had ever called him brave except his siblings, no one except them even complimented him. He walked close to Ragna and began to dig. Strange, the ground felt warm to him. He realized he was digging in the dead fire, the place Ragna usually built the fire. He shrugged and continued to work. After a moment Ragna decided to help him and together they buried Saya.

Ragna just kept staring at the spot in the ground that held his beloved sister.

"If you got anything to say, now's the time," Jubei told him. Ragna remained silent as tears fell from his face. "Give yourself a moment, but we should probably get going soon."

"Going... go where..?" Ragna asked. "I've got nowhere to go."

"You can stay with me for now," Jubei told him. "My place isn't to big, and you'll have to put up with two girls close to your age, but it'll be warm."

"Why are you helping me? Aren't I the devil? What's the rest of the town going to say to you?"

"Kid... Anyone who's willing to be with someone they love in their final moments and sing them to sleep is no devil in my book. This town's just made up of arrogant fools and cowards if they call you that just because of some strange hair color and a red eye," Jubei told Ragna. "Come on, do you have a name?"

"Ragna... My name's Ragna..." Ragna told Jubei.

"Nice to meet you Ragna, name's Jubei. If you can, grab the fish. Celica might be able to make something with it when we get back."

 _Later_

Celica hummed simply to herself as she added more firewood to the fire. Her stew had already been properly cooked, but since Jubei hadn't been able to grab any she figured he'd love to come home to a warm meal. He cousin Kokonoe sat near the fireplace on the table, trying to figure out what was wrong with her design in armor.

"Do you think Jubei will be back soon?" Celica asked as she stirred her stew.

"He should be, Bart said the shift should only last two hours," Kokonoe said as she glanced at the hourglass. She'd already used it twice, but Jubei had yet to return just yet. After a few more minutes of looking over her work, she heard the door open. "See, here he comes."

Celica ran to the door and was about to greet her uncle, when she saw that her uncle hadn't come here alone. There was a boy travelling with him, one she didn't recognize. He looked filthy, covered in dirt like he hadn't had a decent bath in months. When he turned to face her she gasped as she saw his eyes, a small part because of the red one, but mostly because how dead they looked. Hearing Jubei clear his throat, she saw him hand her a basket full of fish and motion for her to leave for now. Celica nodded and headed back into the kitchen with Kokonoe.

"What's wrong, and what's up with the fish?" Kokonoe asked from the table as she heard Jubei heading up the stairs. "Did he say anything?"

"He... he brought someone home with him. A boy who's taller than both of us and I've never seen before," Celica explained as she set the fish down near the fire.

"You sure about that?" Kokonoe asked, not even bothering to look up from her papers. "You could've just not remembered him, I mean you forget where you're going all the time."

"I would've remembered him," Celica told her older cousin. "His appearance was just so bizarre, but he was completely covered in dirt." After a moment they saw Jubei walk into the kitchen with them by himself, a serious look on his face. "Uncle Jubei, what's going on? Who was that boy?"

"Celica, Kokonoe..." the cat began, trying to figure out how to start this. "What do ya know about the Devil around town?"

"I've heard people gossiping about him," Celica told him. "They say he's a terrible person who's only trying to hurt anyone who gets near him."

"Kokonoe?" Jubei asked turning to his daughter. The Grimalkin finished the note she was writing down before putting the quill back on the ink bottle.

"I've heard plenty of crap about him, but I've never actually met him or even seen him around town. They tell me he has soulless white hair and a single blood-red eye."

"Then that was the boy you came in with!" Celica exclaimed, waiting for Jubei's response.

"Yep," Jubei told the two girls. "He's upstairs in the guest room resting, but I don't really think he's gonna be able to sleep after what he just went through."

"What happened to him?" Kokonoe asked, saving judgment until she actually saw Ragna with her own eyes.

"His little sister just died, she died in his arms while he was taking care of her under the bridge," Jubei told them with a sad look in his eyes. Both of the children knew what it was like to lose family so they stayed silent, until something Jubei said began to bother Celica.

"Wait, why was he under the bridge with her? Wouldn't he be with his sister be in the orphanage?" she asked her guardian. "Or did they run them out?"

"They never let him stay at the orphanage in the first place," Jubei told them. "Even after his parents died he had to stay in the wilderness, and from what I gathered they never let his sister stay either. He's been living in the wilderness try to take care of her as best he could... but tonight the plague took her."

"No..." Celica mourned. "And no one was willing to help him...?"

"They wouldn't lift a finger if he begged them, and now the kid blames himself because if it hadn't been for him, he feels that his sister could've gotten some help."

Everyone was silent before Celica took a label and poured some stew into a bowl and gave it to Jubei. "Here, eat up. I'm going to bring some soup up to him."

"Look, I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Jubei told her. "Kid's probably trying to get some sleep and-"

You just told me he wouldn't be getting any sleep and he could use some food in his stomach," Celica told her uncle before she ran upstairs with the soup bowl.

"I don't see anything good happening here..." Kokonoe commented to her father. "Meeting too many strangers just after he saw his sister die is going to drive him crazy."

"Yeah, but I don't think Celica would listen to us anyways," Jubei told his daughter before sitting down at the table and eating. "She's always been stubborn, just like you are in some ways."

"I'll take that as a compliment dad," Kokonoe said as she reached for her feather and began writing again.

"Do you really have to write with that at the dinner table?" Jubei asked.

"Don't ask a question you already know the answer to," Kokonoe told him, causing the old cat to roll his eyes at his daughters attitude.

 _Upstairs_

Celica knocked on the door to Ragna's new room, trying to make sure he was alright. She waited silently for a moment before knocking again. "Hey... I know you might be resting... but I brought some stew for you." No response. "Uh, I'm going to open the door now okay?" Despite their being no response, Celica opened the door (she knew most of the doors didn't have locks) and saw Ragna inside.

He didn't even seem to notice her as she came in, he just kept sitting on the edge of the bed, he head hung over in deep thought. Celica had the distinct feeling that Ragna couldn't even hear her, but she knew she had to try.

"Um, do you not want it?" the redhead asked, not receiving any response. "Oh, maybe if I tried feeding it to you..." She took the spoon and brought it close to his mouth. "Say 'Ahhhhh'!"

"What are you doing?"

Celica gave a small jolt as she realized he'd finally talked. His head was now up with his red and green eyes staring at her. "Oh, sorry. You just weren't saying anything so I thought it'd be a good idea to try feeding you and maybe you'd at least feel something after eating!" she blabbed at twenty miles an hour. "You... uh, you didn't hear me come in?"

"Sorry, I was thinking," he told her emotionlessly as his head slumped over. "And I'm not really hungry." His stomach gave a small growl. "Well, maybe a little."

"Then open up. 'Ahhhhhh'!" Celica said as she held the spoon close to his face. Ragna was at least feeling something now, but that something was embarrassment. Eventually he opened his mouth and had a bite of the stew. "Here, I'll get you some more. 'Ahhhhhh'!"

"I can feed myself, but thanks," Ragna told her. Now Celica was the one blushing as she handed him the bowl of hot stew. After taking another bite and swallowing, some color seemed to return to Ragna's body. "Did you make this?"

"Uh, yeah I did," Celica told him. "I'm not really the greatest cook or anything, but I always try my best with what I cook. Do you not like it?"

"No, I like it. Next time you might not want to add too many spices, it start to overwhelm you where you not focusing enough on the beef and-" Ragna stopped himself. "Sorry, I'm being rude."

"No, any advice you can give me about cooking would be great, honestly I'm still new at this," Celica said to Ragna with a cheerful smile. "Oh, that's right we don't even know each other's names yet! My name's Celica A. Mercury, but you call me Celica for short."

"Okay... you can call me Ragna," Ragna told her as he took another bite of stew. He was still hurting, badly, but he also almost seemed at ease.

"Nice to meet you Ranga," Celica said. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you better now that we're friends and all."

 _'Friends?'_ Ragna thought to himself. _'I just met her and she thinks I'm her friend? Strange person.'_ "I guess I am too."

"Cool, I'll see you later, but enjoy your stew, we might have more downstairs if you want to grab more." Celica turned to leave through the door.

"Hey Celica?" Ragna asked, causing the red head to turn to him. "Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome, enjoy!" Celica said with a bubbly attitude as she closed the door and went downstairs. Ragna stayed in his room and ate his stew while he tried to make sense of what the hell just happened.

 _Later_

Ragna groaned as he tossed and turned in his bed, trying to get out of the current nightmare he was in. What the nightmare was about everyone knew, but you could only guess the hell Ragna was actually seeing. A sharp knock at the door forced him out of his current nightmare. He shot upward, panting heavily before hearing a voice come from the other side of the door.

"You up now?" it asked.

Ragna didn't recognize the voice as Celica's or Jubei's, but he knew it was still late out, so it was probably the other girl Jubei had told him about. Ragna walked up and opened the door, revealing a pink haired woman with glasses and cat ears wearing a dark blacksmith's attire. She was holding a steaming mug of something in her hands and looked like she was trying not to annoyed at Ragna.

"Uh, hey..." Ragna said, not sure what was going on. "Sorry if I woke you."

"Yeah, well take this tea. It has a lot of herbs in it that'll help you relax." She trust the hot mug into his hands, not giving him a moments notice.

"Oh, uh thanks..." Ragna told her. "Why do you care if I sleep or not?"

"Because I can't sleep with all of that tossing and turning you're doing," she told him.

"How can you hear it? I'm two doors down and across the hall," Ragna asked her.

"These cat ears aren't just for show you know," Kokonoe told him, before she realized she was being a little harsh with someone who had just lost their sister. "Take the tea, it'll help."

"Thanks, but I don't know your name," Ragna reminded her awkwardly. "I'm Ragna, but I'm pretty sure you know me."

"Well I've certainly heard what people said about you, but you don't act like what I've been lead to believe. My name's Kokonoe and I'm Jubei's daughter. I guess you met Celica, my younger cousin earlier?"

"Yeah, I met her. She seems nice but..."

"A little too nice?" Kokonoe questioned. Ragna nodded. "Well, I guess I can see where you're coming from with that. Anyways feel free to sleep in tomorrow, Jubei's going to be stick around the home and it looks like you could use some rest. I have my work cut out for me withmy studies and Celica's training to become a midwife."

"A midwife..." Ragna questioned. "Is that some sort of marriage training thing?"

"You've never heard of a midwife?" Kokonoe asked as Ragna shook his head. "Look, a midwife is someone who helps a woman give birth to children."

"Oh." Ragna scratched the back of his head in mild embarrassment. "Well goodnight Kokonoe, thanks for the tea." Ragna heard Kokonoe mutter 'night' in return as she left for her room. Ragna gently closed the door as he had a sip of the tea, already feeling relaxed.

"Funny... Saya dies, but instantly my life starts getting better... is this some sort of parting gift or is this the world just playing another cruel sick joke?" Ragna shook his head as he crawled into bed, trying to get ready for the new life ahead.

 **Author's Note: I don't own BlazBlue or the Poem** ** _Beautiful Dreamer_** **.**

 **Well now, that was dark and depressing, but it had to be done. Raise your hand if you cried a little when Celica died. I did, but I'm a pretty emotional guy so tell me about it (and sorry if I made you tear up in public).**

 **Anyways, there will be a few changes to the explanation I had at the beginning, but I have a pretty good idea where to move the story forward. I'm curious, would you guys like the chapter this long (10,000 words) or what I've been usually doing with an extra long special for certain chapters (5,000 but 10,000 for special)?**

 **And now for the review responses.**

 **Natural: Well, naturally I wouldn't thrust Ragna on the throne in the first chapter. He'll get to be king soon enough, but there's still some ground to cover.**

 **animeandgamerlover2: Wait no further. It's HERE! (Dramatic Music)**

 **keyz05: I might, put your OC's in, but keep in mind I may have to change their personalities around.**

 **Yuki Terumi ouroboros Master: Don't worry, there will be plenty of history here, and a few surprises down the line to be sure.**

 **BloodedgetheReaper2113: No new crossovers just yet, and for my Fire Embelm story a lot of people have been pushing the pairings on me. But don't worry, after I finish the next chapter of "A Reaper's Game," that'll be my next story.**

 **sardie power: I explained what a midwife is in the story, but your comment made me laugh a little so I thought I'd add that in for Ragna. And don't feel bad, most people don't know about midwives. As for Ragna marrying Celica, we'll see what happens.**

 **Guest: Hopefully as good, if not a little better. Enjoy!**

 **I'll see you next time, until then.**

 **Ciao!**


	2. Epic I: Home

_Epic I: Home_

Ragna groaned as sunlight hit his eyes. It took him a second in his drowsiness to realize that he wasn't sleeping on the ground, but in an actual bed. Sadly, realizing this brought memories flooding back from the day prior. ' _Saya_...' Ragna thought sadly before he shook his head. ' _No, I can't mope like this. I need to find something else to do, something that can take my mind off of it.'_

After making the bed he'd slept in he went down the stairs and saw Jubei sitting down on the his rocking chair with his eyes closed. Ragna tried to be quiet, but the slight creak the floorboards gave off caused Jubei to open his good eye slightly.

"Good morning," Jubei said to Ragna, still relaxed on his chair. "Sleep well?"

"I guess, given..." Ragna didn't need to finish that sentence. "Did Celica and Kokonoe already leave?"

"Yeah, but when did you meet Kokonoe?" Jubei asked.

"She brought me some tea last night to help me sleep. Thank god for it too, I wouldn't have been able to doze off otherwise."

"Guess I must be getting old, about a year ago there was nothing that went on in this house that I couldn't hear. Now I sleep right through it." A low rumble was heard and Jubei realized it had come from Ragna's stomach. "Hungry? I'm pretty sure that Celica left us some bread and eggs for breakfast. After we eat you can just take it easy today."

"No," Ragna said, surprising Jubei. "If I can't do something to keep myself busy, I'm going to go crazy. You let me sleep here last night, what can I do to repay the favor?"

Jubei thought to himself for a moment before realizing Ragna had a point; he needed something to keep his mind off his sister's death and there was plenty to do around the house. "Alright, we still have a few pots to clean from last night. If yer up for it you'll have to restock our water barrel when that's done. Just be sure to eat first, you won't go long if you don't eat a good meal."

"I'm already used to going without food for days at a time, I'll be fine," Ragna assured him before noticing the authoritative glare Jubei had sent his way. "...But I guess I can eat something beforehand."

"Smart move," Jubei told him as Ragna grabbed one of the plates of eggs.

The chores Ragna had been assigned hadn't been that hard to take care of by any stretch of the word, but it had still surprised Jubei that Ragna had come to him barely an hour later asking for more work. The elderly beastkin had debated on sending Ragna into town for supplies, but knowing the town's apparent hatred of the youth Jubei decided he'd take care of those errands himself. Though knowing Kokonoe would hate it, Jubei then asked Ragna if he could try organizing her desk.

When Ragna stepped into Kokonoe's work room he knew he'd be there awhile. Not only was the entire room crammed full of cluttered paper heaps, there were blacksmithing tools laying about, herd and incense mixed together, strange glasses filled with liquids of vibrant colors, and sigils drawn around the room that Ragna had never seen before. After staring at the room for a moment, he decided it be best if he dove and got started.

An hour or so later, Ragna still hadn't made much progress. He'd managed to make a small system for the papers, but there were still holes in his idea and there was just so much to go through. Documents on politics, armor, weapons, even a select few on different types of magic. There had to be over two hundred times more knowledge here than he'd found in the thrown away books he'd used to help teach Jin and Saya to read when they were little.

"At least I managed to get all of that moldy food out," he said to himself. Indeed, he'd come across a few plates of uneaten meals or simply unwashed plates. As he started to put another paper away, he noticed it was the tenth copy of the same sword he'd found since he'd started his job. "What the hell is this _Blood-Scythe_ anyways?"

 _ **Later**_

Celica and Kokonoe were dragging their feet as they made their way to the well sized house they called home. Both ladies had needed to endure an exceptionally long day at work; Kokonoe had needed to complete an alchemy exam that she'd been preparing for months ago and Celica had been called in to help some of the midwives give birth. Though Kokonoe knew how much Celica cherished her job, she was too damn tired to care about how cute the seamstress's newborn had been.

"And he's just got these beautiful big blue eyes and these little cheeks I can't help but want to pinch!" Celica said giddily. "You should have heard him when he started cooing, it was just adorable."

"That's great Celica," Kokonoe told her cousin for the umpteenth time so far. The Grimalkin had passed her exam with flying colors as always, but this procedure consisted of multitasking up to twenty different things at a time. She'd known Celica hadn't had an easy day either, and worse yet she still needed to make dinner for everyone.

"I hope Uncle Jubei managed to get everything that we need for dinner," Celica told her sister. "I was planning on roasting a pig from the butcher's tonight to welcome Ragna, but it's getting late so I might just have to make stew again."

"Yeah, well maybe we can make something tomorrow or something," Kokonoe told her before sniffing the air as they came close to their house. "Funny, I'm smelling roasted pig. Did Jubei decide to start it himself?"

"Maybe," Celica said with a shrug. Jubei had been the cook of the family before Celica had decided to move in with them.

When the two opened the door they found Jubei sitting on his rocking chair as he'd been when they'd left him early that morning. The smell of roasting pig was potent in the air and it smelled delicious to the three of them.

"Uh Dad? Shouldn't you be cooking the pig?" Kokonoe decided to ask, expecting Jubei to realize that he'd just left the boar to cook.

"Ragna's got it," Jubei said simply. "Tried to tell the rascal to wait until you got home and not to trouble himself, but the kid's been keeping himself busy all damn day."

Kokonoe took an actual look around the house and realized the Ragna had been extremely busy. The pots have been scrubbed clean, the floors had been swept and washed, the water barrel had been refilled and there was a fresh supply of firewood, and now he was busy working on making them all a nice dinner.

"Damn, I wasn't expecting him to do all this," Kokonoe commented. "I guess I'll drop my stuff off and get ready for dinner then." Celica headed upstairs with her as Jubei waited to the explosion to take place. " **WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY ROOM!?** "

In an instant Kokonoe was downstairs and boy did she look pissed. She glared at her father, her nostrils flaring as she gritted her teeth waiting for an answer. Jubei just calmly sat back in his chair.

"I asked Ragna to clean it, figured if he wanted to keep himself busy he'd be there for awhile. You should thank him; looks like he worked hard."

"Thank him!?" Kokonoe shouted, no one messed with her work room. Her family often referred to that room as Kokonoe's domain for a reason, and now an outsider had entered this forbidden realm and desecrated it. Kokonoe was god of the workroom and god was NOT happy.

"Um..." Kokonoe turned her head and saw Ragna standing in the doorway to the kitchen looking very nervous. He was wearing a new set of clothes Jubei had given to him, he'd washed himself after grabbing the water from the stream, and he was also currently wearing a white apron that Celica often used when cooking. "Dinner's ready."

"Thanks for making it!" Celica said as she cheerfully came downstairs and took her usual seat at the table. That was when she realized there was an error in the setup. "Ragna, you only put enough plates and silverware for three people."

"Sorry, but I don't feel like I'm up for eating with all of you," Ragna admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I've been through a lot and-" He paused midsentence when he noticed Kokonoe stomping towards him. Before he could react, the Grimalkin grabbed his ear and tugged harshly. "OW! WHAT THE HELL!?"

"So you think you can just go into my room, rummage through my stuff, and get away with it!?" Kokonoe yelled into the ear she was using to hold Ragna in place. "You're going to suffer at the table like those two!"

"Kokonoe!" Jubei yelled, scolding his daughter.

"ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT! Just let go of my damn ear and I'll bring dinner out!" Ragna yelled at the slightly shorter woman.

Though only somewhat satisfied with the answer given, Kokonoe released Ragna. The youth groaned as he grabbed his ear, rubbing the sore spots where Kokonoe had gripped the tightest. He muttered a small string of curses under his breath which was heard by both Kokonoe and her father. Kokonoe rolled her eyes and Jubei let out a sigh as the two took their seats.

This was the first time Ragna had tried cooking pig, but he'd used to same teaching he'd used when he'd needed to cook meat for his other siblings and stuck with that. He also applied spices to the roasted beast and that even heated a few small loaves of bread to accompany the main course. Ragna set down the boar on the table and set a place and silverware for himself before taking off his apron. He then took his seat and waited for everyone else before digging in himself.

"This is so good!" Celica said with a mouth full of food as she eagerly dug into a slice of the pig. "Ragna you're a life saver! And here I thought I'd have to cook stew for dinner again!"

"Uh... thanks," Ragna said as he bit into his own pig. He couldn't really understand what she was getting so damn giddy about, it was just food right? Looking to the other end of the table he found that Jubei was also looking incredibly surprised as he enjoyed his portion of the pig and Kokonoe was trying her best to remain passive, but still seemed impressed.

"So how'd today treat both of you?" Jubei decided to ask the two ladies.

Celica was about to jump right into to talking about the adorable baby she'd helped deliverer, but her older cousin decided to answer first, partly to just so she wouldn't have to listen her drabble on again.

"Managed to pass that damn test. Most of the projects were simple day to day alchemy tasks that had you making healing salves and other D grade mixtures. It took me all day to convince them that I knew what I was going, even though they'd used the potions on some of the wounds the army trainees had gotten and it gave them the results they wanted. Just being stupid I guess?"

"Hey Kokonoe?" Ragna asked. The Grimalkin looked at him expectantly. "What exactly is it that you do? I saw a couple of those papers and there was a lot more on them than just alchemy, so what are you studying?"

"I'm studying to become the king's advisor," Kokonoe told him. "While the king's the brute force and the political power of Rendul, the advisor holds almost all of the smarts and lays the options for decision making. But they're so much more than just that; they're alchemists, inventors, philosophers, blacksmiths. Hell, my mother was this first woman in over a century who had the right to even touch _Blood-Scythe_!"

" _Blood-Scythe..._ " Ragna said, mostly to himself. "I saw that name in your notes quite a few times. What even is it?"

"Ragna..." Kokonoe deadpanned. "That's the name of the king's sword. _Blood-Scythe_ is quite possibly the most important symbol of all of Rendul since it's been with us ever since our kingdom's creation over three thousand years ago. In all that time, the blade's never been broken once, it's never dulled in the slightest, and it's even shown amazing powers in it's suppressed form."

"Oh."

"But Ragna?" Kokonoe looked at him sternly. "Go in my room again or look through my notes and there'll be hell to pay."

"Kokonoe calm down," Jubei told his daughter. "It's not like I had him clean your bedroom."

"I don't think Ragna would've survived the job if you had," Celica said with a giggle.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Kokonoe demanded.

"I think you know what I mean," Celica said slyly.

Kokonoe continued to demand answers and Celica continued to avoid answering. Jubei chuckled at the scene and Ragna managed to crack a small grin. He admitted that he liked it here, staying with Jubei and the girls, but he was worried.

"Hey," Ragna asked, his tone low. Celica and Kokonoe stopped their little back and forth to listen to Ragna. "How long are you guys willing to keep me around?"

"What are you talking about?" Jubei asked. "You think we're just gonna kick you out after everything you helped us with? I'm not going to throw out kid. I'd be sad to see you go. As far as I'm concerned Ragna, your home's here with us."

Ragna turned to Celica who gave him a bright cheery smile. Then he turned to Kokonoe who was eating her dinner, but he saw her give him a small smiirk. It'd only been a day, but they'd already accepted him into the family when no one would even accept him into the town.

"..Thank you." It was all he could say, but it was all he needed to.

 _ **One Week Later**_

Ragna had kept working the entire time he'd stayed with Jubei. Even though his foster father had told him it wasn't necessary, Ragna did his best to keep the house clean and keep the meals cooked in time. Part of the reason was his obligation to Jubei, but he was mainly doing this so he'd keep his mind off of his sister. He'd had to suffer through nightmares of reliving her death every night, and he'd woken up screaming most of the time. While he'd appeared fine on the outside during the day, it was little more than a facade as he tried to keep himself from going completely berserk. This wound he had was one he thought would never heal.

Currently he was sweeping the front steps of Jubei's house, trying to ignore the glares he got from those who passed him by. Ragna had started going into town in order to gather food and other necessities for the family he now had and so far it hadn't gone too bad. Most of the people did give him a mean stink eye, but he'd just shown them the list saying it was for Jubei and they gave him what he was buying. Overall though, the town still resented him, more so now that he'd been showing his face more, so Jubei decided he'd buy supplies today.

Ragna had just finished sweeping the steps when he heard footsteps coming towards him. They were trainees for the king's army, six of them, all of them a year or two older than him and most of them were taller than him. They were all dressed in leather practice armor, wore wooden practice swords at their sides, and looked like they wanted to start trouble.

"So it's true," the lead man said with a sneer. He had messy blonde hair, fair skin, and a very long nose. "Our local devil's hired himself out to work for the ex-general and his kids. Who would've thought? What, did they promise you their souls if you worked hard enough?" A couple of the kids let out demeaning chuckles.

"I've got nothing to say to you," Ragna said, already on edge; last night had been to worst night for his nightmares thus far and he'd barely gotten an hour of sleep, and none of it was peaceful.

"Good, you sound like a moaning prostitute anyways," the same one retorted. The others laughed while Ragna was practically seething. "But speaking of them, where's you sister anyways?"

"She died a week ago," Ragna said, trying his hardest to keep if temper under control. If he lost it now he'd lose his life with Jubei, Kokonoe, and Celica. He kept telling himself he couldn't lose it, he just couldn't.

"Aw, that's too bad. Guess you can't sell her for a copper or two anymore," the lead boy laughed and his cronies howled. "How many times did you force her to do you before she croaked from the plau-?"

A horrid cracking sound was heard down the street as Ragna's fist met his instigator, dead center in the face. The fool was sent flying six feet back before his back slammed to the cobblestone. He laid their dazed as blood trickled from the wound Ragna had given him.

"Boss!" one of the flunkies shouted. His leader slowly lifted his hard up his eyes filled with fury.

"Be broke by bose!" he shouted as he grabbed his face in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. "BE BROKE BY BUCKING NOSE!"

"It's an improvement," Ragna said darkly. The other recruits could practically see that he was seething with anger. He spoke again, this time sounding like something from the darkest pits of death. " _ **Get the hell out of my sight**_."

"He's just one runt! Teach him a lesson!" A thug shouted as his friends all rushed Ragna with wooden practice swords. Ragna roared as he met to meet them unarmed, ready to let out a week of pent of aggression he'd had ever since Saya died.

 _ **Later that Night**_

Ragna hissed as Kokonoe applied the healing ointment to a bruise on his cheek. The pink haired half-cat had told him that his wounds could get infected and if she applied some of her special mixture it'd both prevent that from happen and the wounds would be healed by morning. What she hadn't told him was how much it would sting.

"Ow!" Ragna shouted as another helping ointment was applied to his cheek. "I'm fine damn it!"

"Quit whining already," Kokonoe muttered. "You're lucky I had some extra ointment or you'd have to get this taken care of tomorrow when Celica or I finally master that damn healing spell."

"I'd rather wait!" Ragna shouted before Kokonoe applied yet more ointment to the wound. "OW! You're putting too much on!"

"Who's the expert here, you or me?" Kokonoe questioned.

"Who's the one who has it out for me after I _destroyed_ her precious workroom? Oh yeah, you are!" Ragna bit back.

"I don't have it out for you," Kokone said, putting down her jar of ointment. "At least not anymore... I guess I was pissed that someone went through my room and saw everything, but at least you didn't throw anything important away... and I guess it's easier to find stuff now."

"Hm? Is that a thank you?" Ragna asked, not really sure if it was.

"Not quite, my threat from earlier still stands," Kokonoe told him. "Is that everything?"

"Yeah that's it," Ragna told her. Kokonoe glared at him, causing Ragna to gulp. "All right, all right, I have a wound or two on my chest or back, but they'll heal up quick." Kokonoe's glare intensified. "Okay! Okay! Jeeze!" Ragna complained as he took his shirt off, causing Kokonoe to blush slightly.

Judging by his arms, Kokonoe figured that he had to be fit, but she was still a little surprised when she got a look at the full package. Ragna's abs were already perfectly developed, a little too developed for someone of his age. Though his shoulders were pretty broad, his waistline was slim. He also had some weird birthmark just under his neck, but Kokonoe had never seen the symbol before. Looking over him, she doubted she'd find a pinch of flab anywhere.

"Well, are you going to apply the damn stuff or not?" Ragna asked, a little annoyed that he'd needed to strip his shirt.

"I'm just looking at the wound!" Kokonoe said, a little too hurriedly. She started applying ointment on Ragna's left shoulder. This time Ragna didn't grimace, apparently already used to the pain. Because of how close she was, Kokonoe finally had a decent look at Ragna's biceps. Trying to get her mind off of her 'patient,' Kokonoe tried to bring up a conversation. "So what did my dad say when he saw you like this?"

"Nothing," Ragna told her. "He just had this sort of sad look in his eyes, but he didn't say anything to me other than I should ask you for some ointment when you get back. I guess he wants me to explain when I'm ready or something."

"I can't believe those recruits were picking a fight with you," Kokonoe told him as she kept applying the ointment. "Was this the first fight you've been in with them?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't the first time they've bothered me. When I still had my siblings with me they'd often hit me with a practice sword just to prove a point. They're all sick assholes in my book."

 _'Funny,'_ Kokonoe thought to herself as she applied ointment to a bruise on Ragna's back which was just as toned as the front. _'You'd think if was hit was a practice sword when he was that young he'd have some kind of scars, but I'm not seeing any.'_

"That should do it," she told him as she finished applying ointment to the last wound. She then closed the jar and put it in her alchemy bag. "I'd tell Jubei about the fight sooner or later if I were you. Those freaks are probably going to spread a nasty rumor about you and you'll want Jubei on your side if things go from bad to worse."

"I don't need his help, and frankly I don't want it. I've probably given him enough grief as it when I moved in... It's a miracle the town hasn't burned your house down yet."

"Idiot, you still haven't figured it out. We don't CARE what the town thinks of us now that you've moved in, and I was already getting enough trouble before you turned up!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ragna asked as he checked the ointment on his chest to see if it had dried yet, it hadn't.

"I'm a grimalkin, that means half-beastkin half-human, I've only been described in books as an 'impossible freak of nature.' It didn't matter that my dad was an old war hero or that my mom was the king's first advisor rather than the other nine men who were older and clearly more experienced than her, I was a freak in their eyes and I probably still am. When Celica's parents died in that Fullnear raid, the orphanage wanted to take her in instead of leaving her with a family of freaks."

Ragna didn't say anything at first, then he slowly brought his hand up and ruffled Kokonoe's hair, just like he used to do with Saya (Kokonoe's blush brightened). "I guess we're all freaks, but at least with you and me it's only appearance and blood. More than what can be said about everyone else."

"I guess," Kokonoe said, inwardly admitting she kind of liked it when Ragna touched her ears. It must've been her inner cat because she had the strangest urge to start purring.

"Ragna! Kokonoe! Dinner's ready!" Celica called as she walked up the stairs. "Ragna! Ko...ko..."

Celica saw them; a shirtless Ragna with his hand on Kokonoe like he was going to pet her, Kokonoe blushing madly, but seemed to be smiling through it. She then saw them jerk as if they'd been interrupted by something very (as it seemed) intimate. The shock finally hit her head and she passed out on the floor.

Ragna and Kokonoe stared at the passed out midwife before the former decided to speak up. "So... got any smelling salts in that bag of yours?"

 _ **Meanwhile- The Palace**_

Azrael sat in his office, simply mulling over life and collecting his thoughts with a glass of his favorite mead that was imported from the _Vermillion_ fiefdom. The stuff was expensive and hard to come by, but even a brute like him could savor the tastes of finer liquor. When he wanted to drink in excessive amounts in a vain attempt to get drunk or just make a show and drink fifty men (and thirty women) under the table, he drank the cheap stuff. But this, this was the stuff where he'd take his time with it; he'd sip a small amount, let the taste and texture cover his senses, he'd analyze the current taste, and he'd try to think of what the taste reminded him on, and dwell on the memories brought up until the taste was gone and he wanted more and then the entire process would repeat itself.

Though it normally took close to a half hour to get through a single glass by these means, this was his favorite part of the day;, second only when he was in the heat of battle. This was the time when he could simply lounge in his office, enjoy a drink of premium mead, and let his mind wander to whatever battles he would remember... so it annoyed him beyond description when a knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Lord Azrael, may I trouble you for a moment?" the voice on the other side of the door said. Even without his trained hearing, Azrael could tell that the voice was strangely muffled. Not that it mattered to him, he heard everything he needed to know about the person on the other side. They wanted something from him (most likely his strength or authority) and were willing to sacrifice all sense of pride in order to brownnose for what they wanted. By definition, a coward that Azrael wanted nothing to do with.

"No, so get lost," Azrael rejected, about to take another sip. The glass was close to his lips, ready for the next round of his drinking ritual.

"Please my lord, it'll take little more than a few minutes of your time."

Azrael would've been more than annoyed with the mere fact that he'd been interrupted not once, but twice, but when he stopped moving the glass a precious few drops of liquor escaped from it, hitting the floor to never be enjoyed. He gritted his teeth and grunted in annoyance, this was around the time that idiots started screaming.

"All right then, come in," Azrael said, failing to keep his tone level.

The door opened revealing a second-year recruit from the Reapers. The cause of the muffling was a group of bandages plastered to his face, healing salve that wouldn't completely heal the wound until the next morning. Beside his nose, the boy's right arm was also in a sling and it seemed he had other bruises as well.

"I am honored that you were willing to hear me out my lord," the recruit said. "Surely your tales of strength and honor are mere understatements when compared-!" Azrael snapped his fingers, interrupting the recruit and sending him a glare that said 'get it over with, _or else_.' "My lord, I, Seno, was travelling with my fellow recruits after our daily training exercise when we were ambushed by the devil. Normally it'd be little problem to shoo the little hellspawn away, but he came at us with a form of demonic magic, something he told us he sacrificed his own sister to obtain. We were greatly outmatched, but I took the worst of it as I let my follow Reapers escape. It's a miracle that no one managed to die and-"

"Get to the point, what do want me to do about it?" Azrael said, his patience wearing thin. He noticed that the boy seemed to be eyeing the bottle of liquor he'd left out, almost as if he was expecting to be offered a glass. Azrael wasn't willing to give him piss he'd make from the liquor; it was too good for someone like him.

"My lord, we've allowed that half demon to stay in our city for long enough. This _RAGNAROK_ is truly a curse upon mankind and needs to be dealt with as such."

Azrael starred blankly at the man for only a moment, then he smirked, then he chuckled, then he let out a bellowing laugh. "You're pathetic."

"What?! My lord, why do you say that?"

"Because it's true," Azrael told him. "You and your little group of flunkies can't handle one simple kid so you come crying to me so I can handle it? I'm no fan of this supposed 'devil,' but I can tell you that you've managed to insult me more than he ever could."

"But my lord!" Seno shouted. "I carry the proof on me! These demonic wounds are the result of a blood sacrifice of-!"

"Let me tell you something kid," Azrael interrupted, a cocky grin on his face. "If you and your friends had been attacked by demonic magic we'd be sure of it. You know why?" Seno thought hard before shaking his head. "Because you wouldn't be here talking to me about it."

Azrael wanted to laugh as the recruit gapped and tried to think of something to say. He'd never been one for humor, but this man right in front of him seemed to be a living joke. "Now get the hell out of my office."

Seno didn't say anything as he left. He just got out of the chair and walked out the door and closed it, trying to keep his pride intact. Azrael chuckled to himself as he picked his glasses up and admired the liquor inside before bringing the glass to his lips once more. Before he could take an actual sip however, the door opened again to interrupt him.

"I thought I told you to-!" Azrael shouted before realizing that it was his brother, the king, that had entered. Now Azrael was regretting telling him he could come in without knocking. "Oh it's you. Sorry, just had to deal with a fool of a coward."

"You mean Seno who just left?" the king asked. Azrael nodded. "Funny, I thought he was the greatest swordsman of the second year cadets. How did he get those injuries?"

"From what he claims it was the work of the local devil," Azrael told his brother. "I can't really take him seriously when he claim that the devil learned black magic and he only managed to wound him. If that had been real magic I'd have known."

"It doesn't change that he was defeated by this upstart. I thought he'd be able to conduct himself rather well. Swordmaster Varis always gave him a favorable evaluation, but he must've been exaggerating if he can't even handle an unarmed, untrained boy."

"His own fault then, but I'm sure that you came here for more than just an update on that trash. What can I do for you Argus?"

"You're not fulfilling your duties, I want that to change."

"Which duties?" Azrael asked, taking another sip of alcohol. Closing his eyes for a moment as he savored the taste.

"Your duties with my daughter."

 _'Oh right, I'm supposed to be the protector of the heir,'_ Azrael thought to himself. "So, has the princess been assassinated?"

"No," Argus told him.

"Has she been injured in an attack?"

"No."

"Have there even been any attempts on her life?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Soooooooo," Azrael said in confusion. "What am I doing wrong?"

"I'm not talking about your duties as guardian, I'm talking about your duties as her uncle," Argus clarified. Noticing his brother roll his eyes the king let out a sigh. "You've barely spent any time with her the time you have spent you've only watched her from afar doing nothing. Can't you do something to change that?"

"Do I have to?" Azrael groaned to himself. "It just sounds like more pointless work to me. The one time I did let her decide what to do she wanted to braid my hair." He noticed his brother's snickering, probably thinking about seeing Azrael with his hair tied in a ponytail. "Have me watch her when she gets older, you know I can't stand kids."

"Well as your king I command it. You need to learn to human at times instead of relying as a battlefield as a way to get rid of your aggression. Spending some time with my daughter should help with that."

"Whatever, I'll try to take her to something fun tomorrow or something, but my hair stays the way it is."

"If that's what you want," Argus said before leaving.

Azrael then proceeded to finally continue with his drinking ritual uninterrupted. This sip being the last one of his glass. This time he thought back to Fullnear, his crusade of revenge, how he broke through entire armies with just his two fists, he was practically reliving all of the battle, all of the carnage he'd created... In his eyes, it was glorious.

Wanting more of his special liquor, Azrael reached for the bottle on his desk, before realizing it wasn't there. He looked to the floor and the bottle wasn't there either. Then he remember when he'd closed his eyes for a few lax moments during his talk with Argus, the perfect time for the king to steal his favorite drink.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

 **Author's Note: Don't own BlazBlue.**

 **Since no one's putting up their OC into the pot and everyone wants me to forget about adding Keyz's OC's I guess this is now an OC free story. I'm sorry this chapter took so long, but I tried to make it a little long for you all. (6000 words instead of 5000).**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Yuuki Terumi ouroboros master: Probably not going to make this Ragna x Celica, but pairings have yet to be truly determined. My favorite pair is actually Ragna and Nu, but I'm probably not going to be doing that here.**

 **White Knight of Truth: Jin might be psycho, but I don't really have any plans of that for right now. Glad you enjoyed the story.**

 **BloodedgetheReaper2113: One person hooked, let's see if I can fish for more.**

 **Guest42: Thanks for the praise, now where's my cookie?**

 **Blacklace70: I tried to make this emotional and I guess I can see some Naruto fanfiction in the last chapter, but I guess that's not a bad thing**

 **Animeandgamerlover2: Wait no more, here it is.**

 **Adv: I was crying when I wrote it... kind of glad I wasn't the only one.**

 **Anony: See you soon.**

 **Keyz05: By popular demand I'm afraid I'll have to drop your OC's. Good luck on redeeming yourself though.**

 **Guest: Here's the second one.**

 **IdeaPerson1097: I COMPLETELY forgot Arakune, but now I have the perfect idea for him.**

 **Warlord13: I included as much as I could in this chapter, so hopefully I'll give you what you want.**

 **Black sun 123: Afraid I don't know enough about the series to put him in.**

 **Savage Theron: With Nu I keep going back and forth between my options... there's just SO MUCH I could do with her. And having Saya come back to make Ragna's life a deeper hell? I'm not that sadistic.**

 **BlazBlue Fan: Hey, if it's my story I'll take it as a compliment.**

 **Guest: Don't worry, this story is now OC free.**

 **ZERONEX: I guess I just have a hidden talent for the more sorrowful chapters. I'm an emotional man at heart, so it was kind of hard for me to judge.**

 **See you all next time. Next I'll update the much awaited 'Loss, Redemption, Revenge!' ...Well that or I'll put up the second chapter of 'Azure Guilt' before that, either way.**

 **Until next time! Ciao!**


	3. Epic II: Honor Thy Family

_Epic II: Honor Thy Family_

Ragna awoke from his slumber to the sun's rays and the slight sounds of clanking metal in the yard below. He groggily got out of bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before checking his wounds from yesterday. Kokonoe's medicine had done the job better than he thought it would've, leaving behind no trace that he'd ever been injured in the first place. Ragna decided he'd thank the Grimalkin later, but that was when he'd heard voices coming from below.

"You know it wasn't the kid's fault!" Jubei's voice. "His wounds might've healed overnight, but he was injured from his brawl against those thugs! Can't we just let this slide?"

"You know I can't do that, it goes against both my code and my position, Jubei." Ragna didn't recognize that voice, but he knew that it was a good chance that this person knew the recruits that he'd beaten the previous day.

"But Ragna's innocent! I don't reckon to know what your recruits told you, but I can vouch for him!"

"Jubei," the voice said with a patient tone. "I'm not here to make an arrest or to make judgment. I just want to see the child and hear his side to the story, that's all."

Deciding he'd heard enough, Ragna quickly threw some clothing on and headed downstairs. Once he'd descended the steps, he saw Jubei standing and talking to what had to be the largest man Ragna had ever seen. He stood at close to ten feet tall, so he had to slouch over slightly with the lower ceiling, wore a set of full plate armor, and had massive gauntlets. He didn't seem to have a weapon on him, but Ragna could see two oversized metal tower shields on the giant's back. Though he could only see the man's face, his skin seemed to have a strange deep red tint to it, his hair spiky and black, two fangs from the underside of his mouth, and his eyes stayed behind yellow glasses, observing Ragna.

"Who the hell are you?" Ragna asked curtly, though the giant of a man didn't seemed fazed by his vulgar mouth.

"So you're the one that managed to hospitalize five of our greatest second year Reapers, _Ragnarok_ they called you," he said observantly. "They had quite a few other things to say about you, none of them pleasant."

"I'll bet," Ragna said uncaringly. "Kind of surprised you're not trying to beat me into submission or kill me yet."

"Even if you're the so-called 'Devil of Rendul' I have a strict code that I follow and attacking youths unprovoked clearly goes against it." The man adjusted his spectacles, an odd accomplishment given the size of his gauntlets. "If you wouldn't mind though, I'd like to hear your side of what happened yesterday."

"Simple," Ragna said, resting a hand on his hip. "Couple of those bastards started trouble, called my dead little sister a whore; I kicked the crap out of them. End of story." Ragna noticed the disgust in his foster father's eyes, it gave him confidence know that he had Jubei on his side.

"That's… rather blunt," the man said. "But perhaps you could stand being a little more specific, maybe tell me exactly was said?"

"Well I think they also were also about to ask me how many times I'd raped Saya, but I could be wrong; sorta broke the guy's nose before he could finish." Jubei's face quickly went from disgusted to full on enraged. "I don't really have to say anything else, do I?"

"No, you don't," the giant told him. "I don't know how meaningless these words are to you now, but I'm sorry for the trouble they gave you and the things they'd said. And I know I'm seven years late, but I'm sorry for the hell you must have been through."

"First time anyone beside Jubei's apologized to me," Ragna said, somewhat bitterly. "Apology accepted, I guess. But what the hell's your name?"

"Call me Tager; I'm currently a commander in the _Reapers,_ which is why those instigators came to me after the beating they'd gotten from you… Speaking of that, how did you manage to beat them?"

"It's kinda a blur," Ragna said, scratching the hair on the back of his head. "Everything between breaking that guy's nose and seeing the Reaper's after I beat the crap out of them is blank."

For a moment, Tager said nothing, appearing to be deep in thought. When he finally spoke, he seemed unsure. "As you know, Rendul's a warrior kingdom. And our kingdom's main army, the _Reaper's,_ get the highest honors."

"I figured as much," Ragna replied with little interest. "What's that got to do with me?"

"I want you to join the _Reapers._ "

Ragna looked at Tager like the man had just told him he was going to marry off his youngest daughter to a travelling cultist group. "You want me, the Devil, to join the _Reapers_ , the guys who'd been giving me crap all of my life? The bastards who hit me in the back with practice swords when I was a kid for shits and giggles? You're out of your damn mind if you think I would! The _Reaper's_ are a bunch of pathetic bastards who can't even tell what end to hold a sword… not saying you are."

"...I can understand where you're coming from," Tager told him. "You've little guarantee that anyone would treat you differently if you did join, and even less of one that they would let you join at all, but you should know that the _Reapers_ are not all bad. They gave a so called _'half-breed monster'_ like me a chance when no one else was willing to." Tager opened the door to leave. "Training begins tomorrow an hour before dawn. Show up if you want to join."

"I never said I'd join," Ragna retorted with a defying glare. "And I probably won't show up tomorrow."

"Just think on it," Tager requested as he took a step outside before pausing as he seemed to remember something. "Oh, and Jubei? Please thank Kokonoe for the work she'd done on my armor; it's even more protective than I'd thought."

"I'll be sure to pass the message along," Jubei assured him. "Until next time, Tager." Once he was gone Jubei turned his attention back to Ragna. "You shoulda told me what happened kid, coulda helped you."

"I didn't want to drag you into this; my fight, my problem," Ragna told him before noticing the thoughtful gaze Jubei had on him. "Don't tell me you actually think I should try joining, they'd never go for it!"

"It's actually a lot more complicated than yer thinkin'," Jubei told him. "If Tager gave you a recommendation and you pass the instructor's entry exam, then they're honor bound to train you as a _Reaper._ "

"Then they'll just try to butcher me in the exam," Ragna told him. "They'd try to do whatever they could to make a fool out of me."

"Tager's going to be there, I think he'll be sure that they don't do anything too strict to ya." Jubei hesitated for a second as he tried to come up with a good reason for Ragna. "Look kid, this town's full of bastards who aren't going to give you table scraps if you beg 'em. You might not be able to get any of them to respect you, but show what you can do at the _Reapers_ and they'll at least leave ya be."

"I guess…" Ragna admitted in reluctance. The mistreated youth didn't really care about joining the Reaper's, but he figured if Jubei thought it'd be a good idea, he'd go along with it for now. "Alright, so what do I need to do to get ready for the exam?"

"You're going to need to know how to handle a blade and I think I can help you there. Head downstairs to the cellar, grab one of the old practice swords, and come outside to meet me in the yard. I might be old, but the thing about learning sword work is the basics never go away."

Ragna nodded and headed down the steps of the cellar where Jubei kept most of the food and other supplies. He'd been down here pretty regularly since he'd had to clean this level out before and he'd needed to grab supplies when he made meals. He headed right over to the weapon rack and looked at the wooden practice swords he had to work with. These swords were all carved from hardened hickory and set with leather grips, this gave the swords both the proper weight and the proper feel needed for practice. Jubei claimed to have owned an impressive collection of steel swords, but he most likely kept those upstairs in the chest in his bedroom, snapped shut with a lock that looked like it hadn't been opened in ages.

Even though the hickory blades were only practice swords, they were each carved a very specific way to reflect the sword the wielder would be practicing with. The first sword Ragna grabbed was styled after a traditional longsword, but after taking a few swings with it he realized that it was way too light for his liking and he didn't really like the balance. The next weapon he grabbed out was a two-handed blade which according to the tag on the rack was called a Claymore, but the balance was still off and the length was too long for Ragna's liking. In the end he decided on a two-handed curved blade called a Falchion because the balance and length seemed to suit him better. He still didn't like how light the sword was, but he found a couple of stone and rope weights to add to the weapon.

When he made it to the yard, he noticed Jubei waiting for him carrying the walking stick he never seemed to use. When Jubei saw the weapon Ragna had chosen he narrowed his eyes.

"What? Bad choice?" Ragna asked as he examined his practice sword.

"It's not that, just… trying to figure out your decision," Jubei said as he continued to observe the set up. ' _A curved two-handed sword with extra weight on the blade, it's almost like he's wielding-_ " Jubei pushed the thought out of his head. "Enough yappin', let's get down to training."

"Let's," Ragna agreed simply as he brought the blade in front of him.

 ** _Meanwhile *Rendul Castle*_**

Kokonoe was busy researching in the castle library, attempting to research and uncover some of the ancient secrets of enchanting weapons with powerful magic. Even in the more restricted texts, next to nothing was known about the techniques. Even when Nine had become the top royal adviser she'd only managed to enchant a little over a hundred sets of weapons of armor, and none of it was a fraction of _Blood-Scythe's_ power. A prospect like that enticed her, it was a chance for her to become more than just her mother's prodigy. If she could find something to mirror or even surpass the king's sacred sword, she'd be the one in the history books, right next to Nine.

"Hey are you sure you want to ask her?" Kokonoe's cat ears perked up at the voice of a young witch apprentice that came from behind a bookshelf.

"You know what the rumors are saying, how can you not be curious about it?" Another witch apprentice, this one slightly older.

"Maybe because the person we're asking can roast us with a fireball if we say the wrong thing and piss her off!"

"You both realize I can hear you?" Kokonoe called out, somewhat satisfied as she heard the small shriek that came from the two. Eventually the young witches in training came out from behind the bookcase. "What do you want?"

"Well, uh…" the first witch was pushing her fingers together nervously. "H-Have you heard anything about the rumors going around?"

"No. Why is some asshole spewing nonsense behind my back again?"

Kokonoe had experience dealing with rumors regarding her before. About a month after she started training to become a king's assistant, someone had started claiming that she'd been sleeping around with the teachers in order to receive special treatment. While it wasn't the first time someone had made a claim against her maidenhood (which she still had) but this was by far the worst of insults. She'd eventually hunted down the source of the rumor, a young up and coming squire who was jealous of her accomplishments. She'd ended up castrating him in his sleep and… to be honest, doing it with magic can be even more painful than with regular means, ESPECIALLY when pain was the end goal.

"Well, we heard a couple of the _Reaper's_ talking and they mentioned that our local Devil is living with you," the second one told her.

 _'_ _Those bastards again,'_ Kokonoe thought to herself. _'Knowing them they're probably trying to butcher Ragna's reputation worse than even after he managed to beat them in a fight, but I can't really try to get payback on the king's own army…'_ The Grimalkin gave a cocky grin. _'Not openly anyways.'_

"So is it true?" the first one asked meekly, still hoping for an answer.

"So what if it is?" Kokonoe asked, her yellow cat eyes narrowing into a glare. "You got a problem with that?"

"Don't you know what he's done?" the second one disdainfully. "He's attacked the town guards, tried to burn down his own orphanage, and even harassed women around the village! I even heard that he killed his own sister just so he could-!"

The young witches stopped talking as they felt a blinding light in their eyes and wave of intense heat. When the spots from their eyes managed to fade from their eyes, they noticed the book that Kokonoe had been reading had been disintegrated by a fire spell from the Grimalkin. The look upon her face was one the young witches had never seen her use before. How could someone who had always seemed so calm and composed despite her cynical side become so enraged?

"Who the hell said that!?" Her yell could have been heard throughout the entire library and it was obvious that she wanted to get even on whoever was spreading the rumor about Ragna.

"I-It was S-Seno," the first which stuttered out in fear. "W-We overheard him saying it when he was t-talking to some of the m-maids."

"That asshole!" Kokonoe shouted before forcefully standing up and sending the chair she'd been sitting in scooting back. She was far beyond the point of rationality, she wanted blood and she wanted it now. Kokonoe stormed out of the library and slammed the door behind her with force.

Since the _Reaper's_ had their barracks inside Rendul Castle along with the royal library, Kokonoe did not have to travel far to find her target. Seno was with his little crew of flunkies in their resting room, laughing at obnoxious jokes and drinking the mead they'd been hiding from their instructors. After Seno managed to catch his breath after one of his mates described their most recent venture to one of Rendul's brothels, he caught sight of Kokonoe.

"Well look what we have here boys," he said, even more of a confident asshole with his slight intoxication. "Looks like a little cat's come to play with us." Kokonoe was already fuming at this point as the group of _Reaper's_ gave a loud laugh. "Aw, what's wrong? Does the puddy tat want some milk?"

"You…" Kokonoe said while clenching her fists so hard a small trickle of blood emerged from each of them. She then strode up to Seno and grabbed him by that collar. "What the hell have you been telling everyone!?"

"Aw look, she's angry," Seno said, not dropping his cocky grin. "That's actually a less ugly look for you. Pity you're still a filthy animal, otherwise I'd enjoy fu-" Kokonoe made to slap the man with enough force to sending him flying, but Seno was used to fighting drunk already. He caught her arm and held it painfully tight. "Stupid cat bitch. Like anyone would let you live if you actually managed to hurt us."

Kokonoe felt the painful blow to her eye as she was forced to the floor. She slowly tried to make her way up, but Seno planted his boot on the back of her head and kept her pinned to the ground. The other recruits gave some mocking laughter and one of them spit in Kokonoe's exposed face.

"Seriously hairball, what's got you in such a ruckus?" Seno asked before he realized a second later. "Oh I get it, you're mad because of those things we said about the Devil you're living with aren't you? Why the hell do you care?"

"Don't you realize the hell he's already going through!?" Kokonoe shouted, though it was muffled by the floor. "He just lost his sister! He was right with her when she died!"

"Probably snapped her neck himself," Seno said uncaringly. "But that's nothing compared to the beating he's going to get from Tager. He went into town this morning to see him and I wouldn't surprised if our town's deviless after today." He then gave a sadistic smile as he looked down on Kokonoe. "I can only imagine how mangled up his body's going to be once Tager's through with him."

Despite where she found herself, Kokonoe chuckled. "You really are an idiot. You think Tager actually listened to the bullshit that came out of your mouth?"

Kokonoe's feeling of cockiness only lasted for a few sweet seconds before it was replaced with pain as Seno pushed his boot down on her head as hard as he could. Unable to endure it anymore Kokonoe cried out in pain. Seno proved to be unrelenting as he continued to push down as hard as he could.

"Who the hell asked you?" He questioned as Kokonoe continued to cry out. A few more minutes of grinding her skull beneath his boot while his mates continued to insult her, he stopped crushing, but left his boot where it was. "Since you're a filthy freak I don't think the boys and I can give you any of the 'special treatment'..." He then hoisted Kokonoe up as she continued to struggle in vain. "But I'll just settle for drowning you!"

As Seno tossed her out of the window, as she sailed through the air, as the disgusting murk of the moat below rushed to meet her, Kokonoe screamed. She screamed in hatred, she screamed because she wanted to hill Seno, but for the first time in her life… she also screamed because she was scared.

 ** _Jubei's House_**

Ragna was sweating heavily as he continued to swing his sword, practicing the cleaving technique Jubei had just taught him. He'd been train with Jubei since they'd started that morning, only stopping briefly to add additional weight to his sword. While he was required to wield it with two hands Ragna was able to complete the techniques properly and long periods of time. Hearing Jubei tap his cane, Ragna caught his sword swing, stopping it quickly.

"Let's call that good for now," Jubei told him. "Don't want you too tuckered out for tomorrow."

"I can still keep going," Ragna muttered under his breath, but he headed Jubei's words and headed back inside the house. Jubei had told him to put his practice sword back in his room for easy retrieval, so Ragna headed upstairs to his own room. On his way there he passed by Kokonoe's room and smelled a pungent odor. "Good god, what is that?"

Peering inside Kokonoe's door slightly, Ragna saw that Kokonoe's let some of her potions shatter and the smell that they produced after mixing was one that could be compared to privy houses. He remembered Kokonoe's warning about stepping inside her room again, but he couldn't stand the smell any longer. Besides, it wasn't that late. Kokonoe wouldn't be back for another hour and he'd be finished with the mess long before that. Holding his nose, Ragna grabbed a rag off of Kokonoe's desk and proceeded to wipe up the mess as best he could.

"Kokonoe!?" Ragna heard Jubei call from below. He froze when he realized that misfortune had once again decided to shove its ugly ass in his face. "What the hell happened!?"

"Shut up! Just shut the hell up!" Kokonoe yelled from below as Ragna heard her storm upstairs.

She entered the room, slammed her door and locked the deadbolt. When she turned to glare at Ragna once she noticed him, he caught his breath. Having her being pissed off at him was the LAST thing he was worried about; Kokonoe was drenched from head to toe and dripping filthy water. Her glasses were broken and her right eye was swollen shut. A horrible bruise marked the side of her cheek. Ragna might've been through worse, but seeing this on someone who he was beginning to acknowledge as family was horrifying.

"What the hell are you still doing here!?" Kokonoe yelled before grabbing a book off the bookcase and chucking at Ragna. He dodged the book, but Kokonoe did not cease her assault of literary projectiles there. "Get out of my room!"

"Not until you tell me who decided to beat you up," Ragna said, straining to stay calm though he was clearly enraged.

"It doesn't matter!" Kokonoe yelled at him. "I picked a fight with an asshole and lost! Just leave it at that!"

"Okay, that really doesn't sound like you Kokonoe, what the hell's going on?" A thought struck Ragna. "Did it have something to do with me?" No response. "Shit Kokonoe, I told you I could handle myself."

"Those bastards were shouting that you'd snapped your sister's neck and killed her!" Kokonoe didn't understand why Ragna was acting as casual about it as she continued to throw books.

"Yeah, and yesterday they asked how many times I raped her," Ragna said in an uncaring tone. Kokonoe was clearly aghast as the tome she'd been holding and preparing to hurl at Ragna. He took that opportunity to slowly approach the Grimalkin and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Look, they ain't gonna stop this shit, so it's not worth it to get yourself beat up over it. I can't stand seeing you hurt this bad."

Then it happened. For the first time in years, for the first time since anyone could remember, for the first time since even before she'd heard about her mother's demise; Kokonoe started crying. Slightly unsure, of what to do Ragna brought her in for comforting embrace.

"S-Stop it," she ordered through her tears. "Y-you smell like sweat."

Ragna gave a small grin. "Well you still smell worse."

"Not my fault," Kokonoe grumbled, calming down slightly. "Those assholes threw me into the moat, and right after the servants had finished getting rid of the waste from the castle."

"Sounds like hell," Ragna said, gently rocking on the balls of his feet as he held Kokonoe.

"You have no idea," Kokonoe agreed, resting her head on Ragna's chest. "It brought back memories of…"

"Of what?" Ragna asked.

"Some of the nightmares I had as a kid," Kokonoe admitted after a few moments of silence. "It was just after I heard about my mom dying on a sea voyage. Before she left, she promised the family she'd come back, but from what I hear, the crew got shipwrecked and were stranded on an island for a few months. When they came back, they told us that my mom had drowned when the ship went down and I… I started having nightmares of her, myself, or both of us drowning for a while. Most people think I hate water because I'm part cat, but it's much worse than that."

' _She's got nightmares too then,'_ Ragna thought to himself. _'That explains how she knew about the tea when we first met._ ' "So it was the group of _Reapers_ from yesterday that did this to you?"

"Well it was mainly Seno, but yeah. If you go after them to get even, they're going to bring hell down on you. None of those bastards are as forgiving as Tager."

"Then I'll get even while I'm in the _Reaper's_ ," Ragna told her. Noticing Kokonoe's surprise as she shifted slightly, Ragna decided to elaborate. "Tager's going to give me a referral, so tomorrow I'll take my entrance test. I'm not going to get any respect out of it, but least they should leave me alone after that."

"Taking safety in a den of beast?" Kokonoe asked. "Sounds crazy, like something you'd do."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Ragna said with a chuckle as he let go of Kokonoe. "Go ahead and wash up, I'll get out of here."

"Wait," Kokonoe said softly. Ragna picked up on it a stood patiently. "C-could you help me first, put the ointment on my face? If I do it on myself it'll smear everywhere."

"Fine, it's just in the bag right?" Ragna said as he got up and got the ointment out of Kokonoe's medicine bag. He then got a large glob in his hand a slowly brought it towards Kokonoe's face.

"Wait, that's too much!" Kokonoe yelled at him, before she noticed the grin Ragna was giving.

"Well I want to make sure it's healed by tomorrow right? You said it yourself to be sure about applying enough yesterday."

"...You're evil," Kokonoe said, finally relenting.

"I'm not evil, karma's just a bitch," Ragna said cockily as he started applying the ointment, smirking slightly as Kokonoe hissed from the sting.

Down below, Jubei chuckled to himself, able to have heard the entire conversation due to his enhanced hearing. He'd hated seeing the condition his daughter had come home in, but there was definitely a silver lining in seeing her open up for the first time since she was kid.

"Those kids...:" he muttered to himself with a smile. "Looks like they'll do alright."

 ** _Author's Note: BlazBlue belongs to Mori and Arc Systems. I am just a pitiful (not really) fanfiction writer._**

 ** _Again, a regular length chapter instead of one of my longer ones, but I enjoyed writing this one. Needless to say Seno's basically a less cool, dipshit version of Terumi. Well, on to the review... Reviews._**

 ** _Yuuki Terumi ect: Sorry, I had an issue uploading the entire story for some reason. It's all there now, but I'm not really sure what happened._**

 ** _Ragna king ex: ...A pairing with Ragna and Hades… I could see the potential drama that would unleash, but that might take some planning out. Thanks for putting such faith in me._**

 ** _Animeandgamerlover2: If I had to pick my top three girls to be paired with Ragna I'd go with Nu, Makoto, and Bullet. But honestly, Ragna can be paired well with almost every female character. I just haven't seen a fic of him and Litchi yet._**

 ** _Guest42: *Grins* Maybe it'll be Ragna x Kokonoe, maybe it won't be. I'll never tell. (Munch Munch) Thanks for the cookie._**

 ** _Savage theron: I'll still give Ragna and Nu some dialogue, but I don't know how far it's going to go right now. Guess we'll see. And marriage is going to play a large part of this story._**

 ** _Paladin9800: Bedroom scene… If you ever let me live that down I'll be surprised…_**

 ** _Ragna fan ex: Good reason._**

 ** _Adv: Here's another set of moments for ya._**

 ** _Guest: wait no further._**

 ** _Guest (2): I already have an outsider planned. He's not an OC so to speak, but you'll love him._**

 ** _Guest (3): Good advice, but I've already got plans… many plans._**

 ** _Guest (4): Most of the characters are going to have an entire Arc of epics dedicated to them. Ragna's is just taking longer than I thought. Terumi will certainly get his own arc._**

 ** _Until next time guys. Next up will probably be a Reaper's Awakening. Until Next time! Ciao!_**


	4. Epic III: Know Thy Name, Know Thyself

_**Epic III: Know thy Name, Know thyself**_

Ragna rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he let out a drowsy yawn. Getting up this early wasn't his usual style, but he figured that if he wanted to become a part of the King's _Reaper_ army, he'd have to get used to it. The sun wasn't even out yet and he was walking through the castle town with Kokonoe, Celica, and Jubei, heading to his trial day of becoming a recruit. He made himself a small lunch to take with him just in case he needed to eat.

"Did you have trouble sleeping?" he heard Celica ask from beside him. Ragna was never really sure what her deal was, just that she always seemed to be the type that was always concerned about him. He was about to answer her when she seemed to catch sight of something odd. "Oh, here's our turn to the castle!"

"Uh… Celica?" Ragna began, feeling slightly perplexed as he pointed to the castle in the distance. "The gates are down the street in front of us, you can see it from here even…"

"You sure?" Celica asked as she stared down the street before shaking her head. "No, I'm sure it's down to the right? I remember it from yesterday!"

Ragna was about to try and talk her out of it before Kokonoe grabbed the young midwife's arm and started dragging her ahead to the gates.

"Hey! Kokonoe!" Celica shouted.

"I'm too damn grumpy to take handle this shit this early in the morning," Kokonoe grumbled as she continued to forcefully guide Celica to the gates. Her ointment had healed her injuries overnight, but that wasn't what she was concerned about, it was her cousin's sense of direction.

"So… Celica's horrible with directions and Kokonoe's not a morning person, perfect. Those are the two that I'm going to be walking this way with every morning," Ragna groaned.

"I doubt that you'd ev'r git bored with it," Jubei said with a small chuckle. "Take what you can get kid."

"Whatever," Ragna groaned as the two approached the front gates behind Celica and Kokonoe who were easily admitted inside by the guards. Once they came closer the guards saw Jubei and gave a hasty salute.

"Sir Jubei! We didn't realize that we'd see you here this early in the morning!" one of the guards said.

"Not a ser anymore, so no need to stand on ceremony," Jubei said. "Just showin' Ragna to the gates."

"Showing him to the gates? Surely you don't mean to bring him inside the castle," the guard said. "I can't question your loyalty, but I can't just let anyone into the castle, especially if it's him."

Ragna gave Jubei a look to let the cat know he'd been right before hearing heavy steps coming from behind him. Turning he saw Tager heading towards the gates with him with a young woman standing to his side. She'd wearing black leather armor and was equipped with sharp gauntlets. Her hair was a shade of white that almost matched his sliver, her eyes were a bizarre yellow, and her skin seemed to be fairly tanned. She appeared to be Ragna's age, maybe a year or two younger.

"I'd thought you'd said I wouldn't be seeing you," Tager said to Ragna with a passive face. "Have a change of heart?"

"More like a request of one," Ragna admitted before glancing to the guards. "Can I go in now or what?"

The guards glanced from commander Tager to the town _Devil_ to each other before sighing. "All right fine, but you better not try anything punk."

"And give this town an excuse to kill me? Pass," Ragna grunted as he walked past them and headed into the training barracks. While the guards looked somewhat appalled with his attitude the girl who was with Tager just gave a small smirk before heading through the gate after him with the giant following close behind.

"I doubt that he'll last long in there," one of the guards said under his breath. Jubei glared with his good eye only slightly before laughing out a chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"Nuthin', just that I think you'll be surprised," the cat said before leaving to head back home, a little sad on how quiet it was going to be now.

Inside the gates Tager started leading the two down to the towards the barracks building.

"So this is your first day out here then?" the young girl asked him. Ragna nodded. "No offense, but I'm kind of surprised they wanted to make you a _Reaper_ after all the hate you get."

"That's what I was telling him," Ragna said, gesturing towards Tager. "Somehow he thinks that this would be a good idea."

"Well with where my dad's coming from it's not too surprising," she said. Ragna glanced at Tager before pointing his thumb in confusion. "What haven't you ever heard of an Oni before?"

"I haven't…" Ragna told her.

"It's a creature from across the sea on the eastern continent of Ikaruga, from what he's told me they're not exactly well thought of with their control of magic among other racist rumors. My dad was born here though."

"I'm only half of one though," Tager told them from up ahead. "I never knew my mother who was a full Oni and my father was killed when I was very young. When I arrived in Rendul I experienced nothing but scorn and fear, but that was before I met King Argus."

' _He knows the king? This guy must've been places then,'_ Ragna thought to himself. "How the heck did you meet him?"

"It wasn't under the best circumstances," Tager admitted with a sigh. "I'd accidentally scared a group of hunters in an attempt to find food. Several of the Reapers were sent to hunt me down, and the King lead the attack. They were about to kill me when I begged the king for my life. Hearing me talk I suppose he decided I could become a prominent fighter. Eventually I met my wife, a woman who works in making fine silks, and then we had Bullet here."

"Huh, so that's your story," Ragna said before looking at Bullet next to him. "And you, are you a member of the Reapers?"

"Not quite, I'm an in-training recruit of a group known as the _Sisterhood of Rendul,_ " she told him. "We're sort of like the Reapers only were made up of entirely women. We're not as large as them or respected like they are, but we have our pride and you wouldn't want to meet any of us on the battlefield."

"Noted," Ragna told her.

"This is where we part ways, take care, uh…" she tried to search for his name.

"Ragna, though most people in town call me _Devil_ ," he told her passively as they parted ways. "She seems nice enough."

"I would hope so, though many people see her as something as a tomboy," Tager admitted as he adjusted his glasses. "Now, are you ready for the exam?"

"As I'll ever be," Ragna told him.

 _ **The Reaper's Inner Barracks**_

Seno and the rest third year Reaper's followed their instructor to the training grounds. The sword teacher was a distance ahead of them, so he decided he'd talk with his team members.

"Man, can you believe that bitch from yesterday?" he said to his mates who laughed. "Remember how much she was screaming on her way down into the moat?"

"Yeah, what a stupid cat," one of his mates, Malo, told to him. "I don't know how that bitch thinks that she can become a King's aid just because her cat bedding mother was one. She's not as smart as she thinks."

"Not by a long shot if she's actually defending that monster," Terral, another recruit said. "By the way where's our group's nutcase?"

"That nutcase is the best of you lot, he's even out training early as you speak," the recruits heard their teacher say from up ahead. Sword Instructor Varis turned back to glare at his students. "I don't care whatever the hell you say about our town embarrassment, but you'll treat each other with respect."

'Yessir," all six recruits told him as one.

"Good, now Commander Tager told me last night that he's bringing in a new recruit today and we're going to give him a proper welcoming for the exam, understood?"

"Sir!"

"Good… you idiots already gave us enough to worry about with those rumors of you having lost to that _Devil._ "

Finally arriving at the training yard the members could Tager from a good distance away, but as the got closer they also saw the one he was with.

"What is this!?" Seno shouted at the instructor while pointing at Ragna. "Why the hell is he here!?"

"This is the new recruit I told you about," Tager told the instructor, his face still passive as ever. "You've sworn the oath to train any man I bring before you and passes your test."

"Any man yes, but I never said anything about training monsters!" Varis shouted causing Ragna to become more and more annoyed. "I won't be holding this… this _thing_ in my Barracks!"

"And you won't have to, he'll stay with Jubei after each day of training," Tager told him.

Varis seemed to grit his teeth at what he was forced into before finally groaning in acceptance. "Let's see if he can even last a day first. Everyone form up, we're getting started!"

Bringing the recruits outside of town, Varis had them lined up with each carrying a staff and two buckets of water on either end which were tied on with a rope and a water barrel behind all of them.

"Alright everyone, listen up and listen well because I'm only going to say this once!" You see that river out on the distance? I want the water barrels filled to the brim with that water by the time our sun's fully out. Anyone who doesn't have it done in the allotted time goes on the stand during drills!" A few recruits shivered.

"What's so bad about the stand?" Ragna asked the guy to his left. Unsurprisingly he didn't get a response.

"Get moving!" Varis shouted as the call to begin.

Ragna was about to take off before he was smacked in the back of the head by the poles of two other recruits and fell forward. The two didn't even stay to address him, they simply took of running, a few of them giving chuckles as Ragna lay in the dust.

"That doesn't quite seem fair," Tager told the instructor as Ragna got to his feet.

"The enemy won't be playing fair either, besides it's just a little new recruit welcome, nothing personal," Varis said, though he knew full well that last part was a lie. He then addressed Ragna who hadn't begun running again yet. "You're falling behind freshmeat!"

"Hey, all we gotta do is fill up this water barrel right?" Ragna questioned.

"That's what I told you weakling! Now move!"

Up ahead Seno and his squad were laughing with each other as they ran.

"Did you see 'em when he hit the ground?" Seno laughed.

"What an idiot if he thinks he can make it through this!" Malo shouted. "I even butchered his buckets when no one was looking!"

"He's going to go a run home to that puss-!"

The recruits were interrupted as they saw Ragna running past them at high speeds, carrying not the sets of water buckets, but the water barrel itself on his back. He didn't seem to pay them any mind as he surge forward towards the lake. The seven were speechless as they saw Ragna make it to the river faster than they'd ever gotten there before filling the barrel completely and carrying the heavy towards where the instructor was waiting. One of the recruits tried to slow him down by jabbing his pole at him, but the Ragna nimbly dodged the attack.

He then brought back the water barrel back to his shocked instructor and Tager, who showed a small hint of amusement.

"Done," Ragna said before putting the top onto the water barrel and sealed it shut. "Now what?"

"Just… just sit out on the side for right now," Varis said with a glum expression at Tager's curious gaze. "We'll get back to you when the rest are done."

"Fine," Ragna said before laying on the ground and looking up at the sky.

The rest of the recruits were struggling to make time and beat the deadline, in the end everyone made it, but not without Ragna making them look like weaklings or worse. Most of the members that came back the traditional way were covered in sweat and gasping for air. A select few had tried carrying the entire barrel like Ragna had, but they were unable to take it all the way so a few tried rolling them (to some miracle no of the barrels cracked). Then came the problem of carrying the water back, they were unable to take the weight like Ragna somehow had and thus had to dump some of the water out and retrieve the rest the original way.

Varis glared at the currently resting form of Ragna. He was making his normally gruelling tasks seem fairly simple and made his personally trained recruits seem like weaklings. If things kept up like this, Varis knew he might actually have to train him… but he'd never let his honor be sullied by THAT.

 _ **Later- Rendul Castle**_

Azrael Glassfield walked the castle hallways, trailing only slightly behind his young niece. True to his word to his brother he'd started spending more time with Trinity as of late, trying to show her a less flowery way of life. Today he'd begun teaching her how to ride a horse and she'd seemed to have enjoyed that (he'd wanted to take her hunting, but his brother had strictly forbade him from doing so).

Despite having an evening with his niece that he felt that was less wasted than usual, Azrael was absolutely seething, anyone with the misfortune to be passed by could clearly see. The so-called ' _King's Berserker_ ' glared venomously at anyone who looked at them daring them to say anything, understandably no one did.

Trinity herself was just skipping around cheerfully, and while Azrael didn't care for ANYTHING that couldn't be seen as masculine, he did have to (internally) admit the young princess did have her cute moments, even if some of those moments annoyed him to the ends of the kingdom.

Finally getting to the outside of the king's office, Azrael roughly knocked on the door. "Argus, open up! I got your kid here!"

"The door's open, come inside," Argus said from inside, leading Azrael to open the door.

"Daddy! Trinity said as she ran forward and gave her father a hug. "I had lots of fun today! Uncle Azzy teached me how to ride a horse!"

"Really?" Argus questioned, looking at Azrael. "Did you actually do that?"

"Tch, I had to do something with her," he grunted. "She's not bad though, a little practice and I think she'll get the hang of it."

"Well thank you for watching her," Argus said before looking at the paper pile on the desk in front of him and sighing. "Apparently the mercenary guild is wondering how much we'd offer to hire them on as guards against bandit attacks. Frankly I'm surprised they're offering, this is the quietest it's been in a while."

"They're sell swords, they've got to make money somehow and they've probably been bored out of their skulls," Azrael grunted. "I'll see you at dinner then, I've got my own things to take care of, namely a bottle of Pogarian rum that I've been waiting all day to get to."

"Very well then," Argus began as he turned to open the door. "I hope you don't-" The king was unable to continue as he saw Azrael's back as his brother turned away. The eldest brother's hair had been braided into a ponytail, complete with a pink bow. The king continued to stare as Azrael exited the office and roughly slammed the door.

"Uncle Azzy really likes what I did to his hair," Trinity said with a huge smile at her speechless father.

Outside the office Azrael roughly tore the ribbon of and let his hair fall in its normal, messy manner. He grumbled roughly to himself as he walked office, as he planned to shut himself in for the rest of the day. He walked through a hallway giving him a clear view of the training grounds though its windows. Glancing outside, he saw something he wasn't expecting one of the training posts, a turf of white hair.

"Is that the town _Devil_?" he thought aloud, before realizing the group of recruits he was looking at was the group that Seno was in, and he vividly remembered what the idiotic recruited had the gall to ask him for two nights ago. "And their sparring session is coming up," he thought with a savage smile. "Interesting… Now I've got something to watch while I drink."

 _ **Castle Library**_

Kokonoe was nose deep in her book on elemental castings of lightning. She'd been studying the tome vigorously for some time now, but as she heard the bell chime five, she decided it was probably time for her to take a break today. Closing the tome and putting it back on its shelf, she found wondering how Ragna was faring. It was five now; it wouldn't be very long before the recruits started their sparring sessions.

' _I wonder if they're treating him decently…'_ Kokonoe thought to herself before shaking her head. ' _What the hell am I thinking, of course they're not! ...Then again Tager's there, so he'll be sure that they don't take thing too far…'_ Despite herself, Kokonoe grabbed her bag of healing ointment and headed to the practice grounds.

Once she was there she saw the recruits putting the training equipment away as the began to prepare for their daily sparring she made her way over to Tager who was standing beside swordmaster Varis. "How's he doing?"

"Good… very good…" Tager told her. "His strength and speed are impressive, but his technique needs some work… With a proper tutor he'd do very well in the Reapers." That last part of his statement was directed at Varis who was watching the students set up. "But what's that you've brought in the bag?"

"Healing ointment, I wanted to test its effectiveness on bruises," Kokonoe told him as a cover.

"Good," Varis said, speaking for the first time since she'd gotten here as he gave something between a smile and a scowl. "Now we can afford to be a little rough."

"Is he going to have to fight all six?" Tager asked, slightly puzzled. "It's his first day, that seems like a little much."

"The enemy won't care if you've been in the Reapers for ten years or ten days, you'll need to be ready either way. He doesn't have to win, I just want to test him," Varis defended before his eyes caught someone approaching through that gate. "And it's now seven," he said with a cocky grin growing.

Glancing at the man coming in, Kokonoe couldn't really get a proper reading on this guy. He was wearing black practice leathers like the others and carried a wooden bastard sword. His black was shaggily spiked behind him and his bright blue eyes seemed to glow. He also had an faded x-shaped scar on his left cheek. He headed over to one of the practice corners and began doing squat thrusts.

"Who the heck is that?" Kokonoe asked.

"My prized student, Zack," Varis said with a haughty smile before calling to the recruits as they finished clearing off the training field. "All right you idiots! Time to get started with our training! Everyone grab a weapon."

Everyone obliged and headed over to the weapons rack to grab their selected weapons. Ragna grabbed a Falchion off of the weapons rack, but as he expected he found that the sword was too light for his liking. Noticing a set of rope and stone weights, he again began to apply them to his weapon.

"Fresh meat! What the hell are you doing!?" Varis demanded. "This is sparring! Not swinging a heavy sword woo the lads and lass!"

"Wouldn't want to woo any of them if my life was on the line," Ragna muttered under his breath. "I need the extra weight, it feels wrong without it."

"Arrogant _devil_ ," Varis said with ire before looking to one of the recruits. "Malo, take him." The burly boy nodded with a cocky smirk as he hefted his large battle axe over his shoulder and approached slowly approached Ragna. "Salute!" he shouted. Ragna gave the traditional salute Jubei had taught him by bringing up the sword vertically in front of him and waving it to the side, but Malo only spit in his direction. "Begin."

Charging a powerful swing with his axe Ragna who seemed to remain unmoving at the attack. "Try and block this you bastard!" he shouted as he swung the wooden axe. A dull thud was confirmed as Ragna stopped the attack with ease, holding his sword with only a single hand.

"B-but th-that's broken through practice shields," Maloi stuttered before Ragna smashed his free fist into his face and sent him to the ground unconscious.

"I don't use a shield," Ragna grunted, though he did give his opponent a proper bow before beginning to walk away.

"And who said you were done maggot!?" Varis shouted in a very ticked manner, hoping to overwhelm Ragna quickly. "Garrett, you're up!"

This time a much slimmer boy came to fight Ragna as he wielded twin short swords.

"Shouldn't you let one of the other boys fight before he fights again?" Tager questioned, suspecting an obvious gang up.

"I want to see if he's actually got any skill, that last match seemed like fluke," Varis chastised.

' _Didn't look like a fluke to me,_ ' Zack thought to himself as he continued his squats in the corner. ' _What's up with all of the hate on this guy?'_

"Salute!" Varis called out. Again Ragna performed a proper form of respect, but his opponent did not.

"Whore sister," Garrett muttered under his breath, but it was loud enough for Ragna to hear and tick him off plenty. Kokonoe heard it as well and secretly prayed that Ragna break at least a few of his opponent's ribs this fight.

"Begin!"

Garrett approached and attacked viciously with his twin swords, causing Ragna to take a step back in retreat. While working with his sword as be as he could to guard himself. "What's the matter?! You scared!?" Garrett demanded before unleashing a unleashing a barrage of sword attacks. ' _No one's ever blocked this before without a shield, everyone needed to retreat and-!_ '

Ragna's sword moved deftly and with great speeds, left, right, lower, higher, left, up, right, down, left, in quick succession, easily blocking Garrett's attacks without taking another step backwards. Garrett grunted as he tried slashing faster and faster, but Ragna continued to guard with ease. Eventually he performed a double slice from opposing sides to catch him in a pincer attack, but was surprised when he saw that he'd missed… in fact Ragna was gone

"You're not half as fast as you think." Garrett froze as he heard Ragna from behind him before feeling the strike to the back of his head and being sent to the ground.

Up above, Azrael sat in one of the castles studies, chuckling as he watched to confrontation through an open window. "Kid's not half bad," he said as he poured himself some rum. "Been a while since I got any enjoyment out of watching a good thrashing."

Azrael took a sip of his drink as he watched three other recruits surround Ragna in an attempt to gain up on him, though out of the corner of his eye he saw that Seno, who was as of yet the only one beside Zack that hadn't been in combat, slip a small vial filled with a blood red liquid out of his armor and quickly drink it before grimacing at the taste.

' _Is he?_ ' Azrael began before watching as he could see momentary bulge in Seno's veins. ' _Dragon's Blood, of course…_ ' he thought to himself. The artificial drug was a recent creation of Rendul's alchemists, it was incredibly hard to make and the slightest of error could make a single sip fatal, but the boost to strength, endurance, speed, and reflexes was tremendous… supposedly. Azrael had tried that potion once himself, but he hadn't noticed any significant changes. The potion was also highly addictive and could lead to severe side effects even if made perfectly, leading to Argus outlaw the potion entirely, though a few of them could be found on the black market to those who looked.

"Huh, well this might make things a little more interesting," Azrael said as he watched the three challengers writhe on the ground after the beating they'd received from Ragna.

Down below, Ragna rested his practice sword on his shoulder in a casual manner as the three beaten recruits were dragged of. The recruits were also wincing painfully as Kokonoe applied her healing ointment to their wounds. Seno came out of the corner with a longsword drawn and Zack… kept doing squats. (You do you Zack, you do you.)

As Seno stood a small distance from Ragna, the town outcast gave a small snarl as he addressed the guy in front of him. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Kokonoe," he said darkly. "How's that nose of yours?"

"Better than you'll be feeling after this. You caught me off guard last time, but now I'm ready," Seno taunted. "You'll be crying on the ground before you realize what's going on."

"That enough Fresh Meat!" Varis ordered. "Stop taunting your sparring partner or I'm putting you on the stand!" Ragna gave a quick glare to his 'instructor' before turning his attention back to Seno. "Bow!"

At little unnerved at the change from a salute at first, Ragna eventually bowed, expecting some sort of rebuke or insult from Seno like he'd gotten from the others. What he got was worse; Seno leapt forward and thrust his longsword toward Ragna's face. He was barely able to back step and dodge it, but then Seno brought the blade back and leapt into his powerful downward slash. Ragna lurched at the power as he blocked the attack, but managed to hold his ground as the two entered a blade lock.

"Not on the ground yet, asshole," Ragna taunted before reeling his head back and and smashing his forehead into Seno's face. The older recruit stumbled back slightly and he gripped his again broken nose before growling and coming forward with a rapid onslaught of sword strikes. Ragna blocked and dodged the attacks with ease, and Seno eventually realized he was moving and reacting faster than he was. Worse yet, he was shrugging off even his strongest hits with ease even with the potion boosting his power.

"HOW THE HELL IS THIS POSSIBLE!?" Seno asked as Ragna started going on the offensive, he was barely able to block with his own sword despite Ragna's lack of tutelage or technique. "I've been training with the Reapers for years! How can you be standing up to me like this!"

"Training for years? Don't make me laugh! I been fighting for my life since I was six!" Ragna shouted as he suddenly halted his onslaught. "And I fought against bears with nothing but a rusty dagger when I was eight!"

Thinking he saw an opportunity, Seno went for a live or die haymaker strike, but Ragna broke the sword with powerful counter swing of his own. Staring down a his broken piece of wood, Seno looked down at his weapon in horror before Ragna punched him in the gut and sent him writhing to the floor. The bully looked up and saw Ragna staring down at him with eyes of hatred and menace.

"Now I don't need the dagger," he told him threatening before turning his back. "Don't piss me off, you DON'T want to do this again."

"That seemed harsh, though I feel that there's a story here," Tager noted from the side lines and Kokonoe nodded in confirmation. "Well Valaris I think you have your work cut out for you with his attitude, but I'd say he's passed."

"...Hard to disagree," Valaris told him, with a fake smile that seemed excruciatingly painful. Not only was he now forced to train the Reaper, he'd even shown up almost all of his students. "I guess that's everything for today, you lot can-"

"Hold up." Everyone saw that the guy at the corner, Zack, had finally stopped doing squats and had come over. "When's my turn?"

"That's enough!" Varis shouted, now afraid of seeing even his prized student becoming beat by the untrained Devil. "I already dismissed you all so get-!"

"If he wants to fight men, then let him," Ragna said with a small scowl as he tried to get a read on Zack. For the entire time he'd been here he hadn't been glared at by him once… now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen this guy at all before today.

"See? He's not saying no, c'mon!" Zack begged bringing his hands together and shaking them with a pleading look in his eyes.

"I don't think there's any reason to deny them," Tager said. "This one looks pretty restless with all of his energy and I don't think that your 'fresh meat' is down just yet."

Growling, Varis nodded in acceptance and Zack gave a large smile before running to the other end of the training field. Ragna took his position on his side of the field and got ready.

"Salute!"

Ragna took his sword and placed it vertically in front of him before swinging it to the side as his traditional salute. Still not sure what to expect from Zack, he was watched him unclip his bastard sword from his back. He, like Ragna, placed it vertically in front of him, but instead of waving it to the side, Zack pressed his forehead to it.

"Embrace your dreams," he said before placing the blade in a battle ready stance. "And protect your honor!"

' _I've never seen that battle salute and call before...'_ Azrael thought from the spare study he sat in before taking another drink. ' _Hopefully he gives me more of a show than that last fight.'_

"BEGIN!"

Zack didn't rush forward to attack as soon as the call came, instead he decided to keep his blade ready as he slowly circled his opponent, closing the distance little by little. Ragna had thought that Zack would take the first swing like everyone else had, but the swordsman only observed Ragna as he slowly walked. Ragna also stayed ready and decided to circle Zack trying to examine where he was coming from.

"Come on Zack! Knock his ass to the ground already!" Malo shouted from the sidelines.

"You're not very popular, are you?" Zack commented, not moving his eyes from where they remained focused on Ragna.

"You really have no idea," Ragna told him before rushing forward and slashing, a simple attack that Zack managed to block.

Ragna's blade was the heavier one,but Zack managed to hold his ground. Ragna brought his blade back before quickly slashing which Zack countered and the two blades struck each other. Ragna then twisted and quickly followed up with a second strike going for his opponent's legs, but Zack leapt into the air to avoid it. Once above Ragna, Zack thrust his sword downward to stab him before Ragna countered with an upward strike to knock the point away and before bringing the blade down for a second slash which Zack barely managed to block with the crossguard before sliding back.

' _Impossible, that's one of Zack's more advanced techniques and he's countered it on the first try!'_ Varis thought to himself in desperation. ' _Is he really learning that quickly?'_

Ragna and Zack continued this slash, before of them standing directly across from each other as they swung their blades and breakneck speeds creating a rhythmic clacking as wood struck wood. Zack broke the pattern by backstepping before turning his entire body into a whirlwind slash. This time Ragna leapt into the air before bringing the heavy blade on Zach, but his opponent still managed to hold his ground. The two then brought their swords back and unleashed one final slash on each other, resulting in Zack's sword finally breaking after the abuse it got from Ragna's swings.

"Aw man…" Zack groaned as he held the broken blade sadly. "Just when I finally found the right practice sword. He then gave Ragna a wry smile. "Looks like you've won."

"Yeah," Ragna said, noticing that Zack was completely defenseless in front of him. Bringing his sword up, he gave the other recruit a small tap on the chest, concluding his victory. "Hell of a fight though."

"One of the best I've ever been in," Zack said before glancing over Ragna's shoulder and seeing someone at the gate. "Sorry, gotta go."

Running over to the brown haired girl in a midwife's uniform who was with Celica at the gate. She seemed to be happy to see him and Zack's smile went from ear to ear as they talked. Celica made her way over to Ragna with a smile of her own.

"So how'd your first day go?" she asked him happily.

"About as well as I could've expected," Ragna told her with a casual shrug as he got the crick out of his neck. "Who's that talking with Zack?"

"Aerith, she's a midwife in training like I am," Celica told him with a smile. "Oh, Kokonoe! Did you come here to see Ragna fight?"

"Like hell I did," Kokonoe refused, not looking either of them in the eye. "I just needed to test out my new batch of healing ointment." Glancing over at the recruits who were trying their darndest not to scratch the constantly itching and burning ointment they'd received. "It's working perfectly."

"...What if I'd gotten hurt?" Ragna had to ask.

"Then that'd be you over there," Kokonoe told him with a smirk.

' _Maybe next time I need to go into Kokonoe's room I'll ask for permission first,'_ Ragna thought to himself in slight fear. As he noticed something flying towards him. He quickly snatched it out of the air and realized it was some form of badge.

"That's your entrance in the barracks," Varis told him curtly. "You lose that? You're out. See you tomorrow… _recruit_."

Up above in the overlooking study, Azrael had finished his rum and was observing as the recruits left for their rooms or in Ragna's case his home with Jubei. The king's brother gave a small chuckle as he looked at Varis who was practically seething at the new student he was being forced to train.

' _Whatever the kid's going to get in here it ain't training,'_ Azrael thought. ' _Not that this could ever be any of my problem, kid stays strong or kid breaks, no loss…'_ He got up and grabbed the now empty bottle. ' _Better get going before Argus thinks I skipping out on dinner to go drinking again, last thing I want is a lecture to soil this decent mood I'm having.'_

 _ **The Next Morning**_

Ragna walked into the training grounds the next morning and saw the rest of the recruits smiling evilly at him and his teacher was only glaring in his direction. Glancing around Ragna didn't see Zack anywhere.

"Welcome back, _Devil_ ," Varis sneered, seeing as there was no Tager around to defend Ragna. "We're going to start you off with muscle conditioning before anything else."

"Okay…" Ragna said, a little unnerved. "How are you going to do that?"

At his question Varis only sneered harder. "You'll be on the stand."

' _Should've seen this coming_ ,' Ragna later thought to himself in annoyance later when he was on the stand. The stand itself was simply a large stool which recruits would have to squat on while holding a bucket filled with rocks on the in each and try to keep the arms as perpendicular to his body as possible. From the presentation of the name alone, Ragna had guess it was a form of punishment and he hadn't been wrong.

Ragna's arms were already beginning to throb as he waited for Varis to call him off as the other recruits did their warm up. Not too surprisingly, he never did and Ragna felt his arms start to go slack as he began to lower his arms.

"Careful," Varis said from where he watched Ragna. "The moment you give up is the moment you're out of the Reapers you devil spawn!"

Moments like these can define a person, they can destroy them or make them into something better. In this instant most people would have given up and shouted out and gotten into deeper trouble, which Ragna was considering before he got a cocky grin and held the buckets at a perfect position, his arms not even shaking in the slightest at the pain he felt.

"And see you wave me off? Not a chance." he thought with conviction as his instructor scowled at him and walked away. ' _I'll show 'em…'_

Ragna stayed on that stand for a full four hours before Varis finally had enough. "Lunch break!" he called. "New recruits eat outside, the rest of you follow me to the dining hall!"

As expected Ragna was the only 'new recruit' so that left him alone outside. At the very least he still had his lunch from earlier. Making sure he had his badge on him, Ragna exited the front gates and walked over to the walls edge and opened his bag of bread, cheese, and dried meat and got ready to dig in.

"Meow…"

' _What the hell was that? A cat?'_ Ragna thought to himself (he obviously realized it wasn't Kokonoe). Glancing around he saw a hooded… something laying on the ground, something that had cat ears on the hood. Before he could take a step away he heard a loud grumble coming from the cat's stomach like it hadn't eaten in weeks. Looking down at the food bag he was holding and remembering all of the times he'd had to fight for food Ragna sighed.

"Here," he said, placing the food in front of the cat who immediately perked up. "You need this more than I do."

Immediately the cat grabbed every bit of food that was in the bag and began eating with gusto downing everything in moments. "Tao's feeling better…" it said in a voice that told Ragna it was female, though the face under the hood was covered in darkness (as far as he could tell). "You're a good guy, meow!"

"Uh, thanks?" Ragna said, a little unnerved. "So who the heck are you?"

"Tao's Tao good guy!" she told him.

"That's not what I-" Ragna tried to say before Tao leapt at him and latched onto his head. "Hey! Cut it out! Stop it!" he ordered as he tried to shake her off.

"Good guy! Good guy! Good guy!" Tao sang playfully as she continued to latch on.

"Stop calling me that!" Ragna shouted.

"Tao?" another feminine voice called out. Tao stopped latching on and eventually Ragna was able to pull her off. "Oh? What have you gotten into, meow?"

"Tora! Tao found a good guy!" she said looking to Ragna as he tried to shake his dizziness off. The other woman with a splitting image of the first one, save for the fact that he coat was a dark black while the first one had a white coat.

"Good guy?" Tora questioned.

"Yeah, good guy gave Tao his food! Isn't he the best?" Tao said with a happy smile as Tora gave a small scowl.

"Someone's a cheap date," Ragna muttered.

"Tao, you just came from eating lunch," Tora scolded.

"But Tao was still starving," the meal moocher groaned.

"Wait, you mean you JUST ate!?" Ragna shouted in clear enragement. "Then what am I supposed to have for lunch!?"

"Meow" Tao screamed covering her head with her paws. "Please don't hit Tao! Tao didn't mean it!"

Staring at the sad little cat in front of him, Ragna let out a sigh. "It's… fine… I'll figure something out… and it's not like I haven't gone without a few meals before," he admitted before being seized by two paws in crushing hug.

"Good guy! You're always so nice to Tao! You're Tao's good guy!"

"What are you talking about 'always'?! I just met you!" Ragna shouted as he tried to remove Tao from him once more.

' _Just met? But he already smells like a cat. Either Tao felt him up more than I thought or… meow.'_ "Tao, you'll have time to play with your new friend later, it's time we headed back."

"Aww, but Tora," Tao whined, though she did remove herself from Ragna's person.

"Meow, we'll be seeing more of this good guy, I'm sure," Tora said with a small smile. "We need to get back to training though Tao."

"Okay!" Tao said cheerfully before giving Ragna a bop on the forehead. "Don't die out there good guy!" she shouted before running off with Tora.

Seeing a them run off to where Ragna had seen Bullet enter the previous morning confirmed that they were part of her Sisterhood, though Ragna didn't necessarily pay attention to that feature, he was still grumbling at his empty stomach.

"Tch… What is it with me and cats?"

 _ **Later**_

Ragna might've been acting rebellious earlier, but now he was certainly starting to hate his earlier attitude. His breath were heaving as he continued to hold the rock filled buckets, knowing a single moment of weakness would be his last in the Reapers. The recruits we finally entering the final part of the day, their sparring practice.

Just as the Reaper's had finished putting the equipment away, Zack walked into the sparring field. Quickly noticing Ragna he gave a wry smirk before heading over to him. "Trust me, I've been there too," he said as a strange form of encouragement.

' _Doubt it…'_ Ragna thought as his balance wavered for a split second before he managed to catch himself.

"So… what the hell did Varis put you up for anyways?" Ragna's response was muttered under his breath, much too quiet for Zack to hear. "Sorry, what?"

"Existing."

At his words, Zack's eyes narrowed as he turned his gaze to the sword instructor.

"Don't…" Ragna said through his grit teeth. "They… they want me to quit… I won't give 'em that… I'll NEVER give them that…"

Zack stared at him in amazement for a moment before sighing at Ragna's foolhardiness. "You're going to break eventually, you can't go on like this forever."

Under the constant stress his body was under Ragna finally let out a violent cough causing Zack to take a quick steep back. He saw that it was bad enough to send blood out from Ragna's mouth, making the dark smile he was giving him all the more haunting.

" _ **Watch me.**_ "

Unnerved to no end Zack took a step further back. He looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end he left to join the others, Ragna again returning to the painful solitude of the stand.

 _ **Later that Night**_

 _Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! ...Whoosh-Whoosh! Whoosh!_

' _Ugh…'_ Kokonoe grimaced as she was slowly. Reaching over to her night table she fumbled for a moment before finding her glasses and slowly put them on her face. Getting out of bed and heading over to her desk, she grabbed her candle holder from off of her desk and lit it with a very simple fire spell.

' _That's not the wind, so what the hell is that?'_ she thought to herself in annoyance. As she walked down the hallway. She took light steps so she wouldn't awaken her father, and passing by his room she heard his drowsy snored as he remained unawakened. She then passed Celica's room, who had a bit of a habit for sleep talking.

'I know Kokonoe, my way of getting to the picnic was easier… Don't worry Ragna, I forgive you for getting us lost…'

' _I should find that sad, but it's actually kind of cute,'_ Kokonoe admitted to herself before hearing what sounded like someone gagging outside. Still taking quiet steps, Kokonoe hurried downstairs with her candle and opened the door.

Outside the found Ragna's silhouette as he hefted his falchion in the air before giving another violent series of swings, each of them carrying enough force to cause a small blast of wind. Despite the full moon, Kokonoe could only see his back, but taking note of his sword, she saw that he'd added more weights than when she'd seen him fight the day earlier.

"Get to bed already, I can hear you from my room," she said grumpily, causing Ragna to finally stop swinging the practice blade.

"Sorry," he said, though he was starting to sound out of breath. "I'll find somewhere else to do this."

"No, you'll put that oversized hunk of wood away and get into bed this instance," Kokonoe told him with a scowl, though he still kept his back to her. "Didn't you practice enough this morning?"

"I've got a shitty instructor," Ragna told her still refusing to face her. As Kokonoe took a deep breath to continue scolding him she caught a scent of something strong. Ragna's sweat yes, but also…

Her eyes growing wide Kokonoe marched up to Ragna, grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn and face her. Her jaw went slack as she saw his mouth covered in blood that looked like it had been hastily wiped. Ragna's eyes seemed weary and she could see straining on his face by just standing.

"What the hell did they do to you?" she demanded at him in a soft voice.

"...Just training," Ragna told her as he tried to raise his sword.

"And you're still doing this?" Kokonoe asked him.

"...Don't try and stop me on this, I'm not stopping and letting those assholes think they beat me," Ragna said defiantly as he again raised his sword, though now the blade looked like it was shaking in his hands. "I can still go… I can still… fight."

"No," Kokonoe said softly as she pushed down on Ragna's hands and forced him to put the blade down. Seeing him struggle, she decided she just needed to buy time. "I'll figure something out, something that can make this a little easier for you… just focus on surviving for now alright?"

Still Ragna struggled, he tried to lift the blade and resume his training. That was when the Grimalkin decided she'd had enough. Letting her hands glow slightly, she cast a spell that attacked Ragna's nervous systems and effectively paralyzed him. The Reaper's recruit hit the ground with a dull thud, though his eyes remained open.

"Idiot," she said before realizing that now she had to carry him inside. Setting the candle stick down on the cobblestone, she grabbed Ragna's arm and attempted to drag him upright. She grimaced as she tried to support his body by draping his arm over her shoulder before her knees bucked under the weight. She was about to fall forward before Ragna's arm caught her and he managed to remain standing.

"Dick move," he grunted at her.

"You can move?" she asked, Ragna slowly nodded. "But how?"

"Dunno, but your spell still wrecked me pretty good," Ragna admitted seeing as he could no longer stand straight. "Fine, I'll turn in for night okay? Just help me up to my room."

"Make sure I don't need to do this again; next time I'm leaving you out there," she bit at him.

Ragna softly chuckled and allowed himself a smirk as the two walked up the stairs. "You would, wouldn't you?"

After finally getting Ragna in bed, Kokonoe was grumbling to herself as she opened the door to leave his room.

"Hey," Ragna began when her back was turned to him. Kokonoe turned her head to face her newest housemate, who refused to look at her with a blush on his face. "Thanks…"

Allowing herself a sigh of exasperation, Kokonoe let herself give off a sad smile. "You're welcome." She then turned to leave, but not before Ragna gave the final word.

"But did you really have to tuck me in?" The quick blow Ragna felt the half-cat send to his head was enough for him to finally escape into subconsciousness under his warm sheets.

 _ **The Next Morning**_

Kokonoe yawned to herself as she awakened the next morning and gathered her supplies. While she moved with precision and speed, it was obvious that her thoughts lied elsewhere. Ragna's condition yesterday had been horrible and while he showed no signs of wounds, it was obvious that his body had been stressed and pushed to inhuman limits. She figured she'd be bedridden for at least most of the day, but that might be enough to give Varis a 'reason' to be rid of him.

Figuring that she had a bit of time left, Kokonoe sat down at her alchemy table and created a quick potion, one that was meant for handling strain on the body. The procedure was simple and the ingredients were easy to come by so it was of no consequence to her. She'd just finished when she heard a sharp rap on the door.

"I'll be out in a sec Celica," she called. "I'm just finishing something for that idiot."

"Who's an idiot?" a curt voice asked from the other side.

' _He's out of bed? He should be sleeping until noon after what I saw!'_ Quickly getting up she opened the door and saw Ragna standing there, looking like he usually was. "How are you still standing?"

"Well your spell had to wear off eventually," Ragna answered with a grunt that he didn't before seeing the potion on her desk. "That's not poison is it?"

"No… but I would recommend that you take it with lunch," Kokonoe told him. "There's a mixture in there that should help your muscles heal and your nerves. It's not very noticeable, but if I made this any stronger it'd become addictive."

"I don't want to have to deal with that," Ragna agreed. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I guess. Just don't kill yourself today."

"Don't think I'll have any control over it, but I'll come home, promise."

At Ragna's words Kokonoe turned away from him as her face gave off a light blush. "Idiot, don't come back for me. Do it for yourself."

"Seesh, try to say something reassuring and you yell at me," Ragna groaned. "Come on, let's get going."

At the training yard Ragna had to again stay on the stand the entire day. But he didn't seem to be in as much pain as he was yesterday. Varis growled at the boy, whose body should have been broken long ago. Part of him suspected him of using illegal drugs, but since his body didn't appear to be under the strain he usually saw in Seno whenever he used them, there was little he could say or do.

Though… now that he saw him, he did notice that the town's _Devil_ was watching the drills, almost analytically. Varis doubted that anyone could learn swordsmanship by watching others, but it never hurt to be sure.

"Turn around," he ordered. "You'll learn when you've earned it."

' _Asshole, he's not even letting me do this much,_ ' Ragna thought to himself as he turned his body so that he was facing the wall. As the recruits started clearing the field to go to their next set of exercises, Ragna felt a wet, sticky splat against the back of his head. He hoped Seno would only leave it at spitting.

 _ **That Evening**_

"Hey Celica, you got dinner tonight?" Ragna asked. "I've got some shit I need to take care of."

"Sure thing, you can count on me Ragna!" the midwife said with a smile as Ragna headed outside carrying his practice sword.

Bringing his sword in front of him, Ragna tried his hardest to remember what he'd heard the instructor call that morning. ' _Was it downward slash, upward slash, forehand strike, forward stab? Or was it…?'_ Ragna shook his head. ' _Let's just try it out and go from there.'_

Ragna's sword cut through the air with ferocity, but he felt off balance after the second swing and by the third strike he was starting to lose his footing, his fourth strike was obviously off target.

"Dammit all to hell," Ragna groaned to himself. "That wasn't it."

"Then why'd you try it?" Jubei's voice came from houses entrance. Ragna turned to face his current guardian with a scowl. "Just what in blazes were you trying to do?" He ignored the commentary and readied his sword once more. "Didn't you get taught anything today?" Ragna paused, and it told Jubei everything he needed to know. "Damn fools, so they're ev'n ignoring honor now."

"There's probably less of it in teaching me," Ragna told him seriously as he finally set his sword down. "I'm not going to let that stop me, if I gotta fight through hell then that's what I'm going to do."

"Why do ya care so much about this?" Jubei demanded. "You hated this earlier, but now you're fighting tooth and nail to stay in. Why?"

"Either I let them trample over me or I fight back," Ragna told him with a huff. "And if they going to try and break me? I'll beat them to the ground before I give up."

Jubei just stared at Ragna after what he'd just said. Those harsh words he'd just said were some that he'd remembered a very dear friend of his saying a long time ago. Shaking his head Jubei watched as Ragna attempted to perform the attack once more.

"Your stance ain't right, you need to let you wrists flow with your arms, and your feet have to move into the attacks," he lectured. Ragna was silent as he gave a speculative glance back to his teacher. "Well go on! Do it again!"

Ragna gave a small grin as he resumed swinging, this time following Jubei advice. The cat continued to watch him and adjust his style as he went… though that didn't last for long.

"There you are!" Zack shouted as he walked up the path to where Ragna was training with Jubei. He was covered in sweat and looked like he'd had to run here. "I've been looking for you all over the place! No one would tell me where you lived so I had to run all over town and hoped I saw you!"

"You ran all over town and did what?" Ragna asked, a little shocked at Zack's behavior. "What the hell were you trying to find me for anyways?"

"I'm here to help you out," Zack told him. Noticing Ragna about to protest he quickly added, "Before you say no, you've got to get some help if you want to stay in the Reapers and Varis sure as hell won't be giving you any. I can help you out!"

"Why do you even care?" Ragna grunted. "I'm the town embarrassment aren't I? You start hanging out with me and you won't have any friends."

"Then they weren't real friends to begin with," Zack said with. "Besides what kind of a hero could I become if I didn't help someone who needed a training partner."

' _Become a hero?'_ Ragna thought to himself. ' _What kind of a goal is that?'_

"He's got a point kid," Jubei told him from where he sat. "You'll need someone to spar with, you gotta have someone to fight."

"...Fine," Ragna finally admitted.

"Come on, why do you always have to be so grim? Ever since I met you in the Reapers you've done nothing but keep to yourself and say that the entire world was against you," Zack sighed before his eyes suddenly lit up. "That's it!"

"What's it?" Ragna asked, having no idea where Zack was going.

"Grim! You're the _Grim Reaper_!" Zack said to him with a laugh. After realizing what Zack was getting at Jubei joined in laughing as well, leaving only a very confused Ragna. "Until you decide to brighten up a bit that's what I'm going to call you!"

"It fits," the cat agreed looking at his two students.

Ragna groaned to himself. Help him or make fun of him, what was Zack really trying to do? Rolling his eyes, he got into a ready position and brought his blade up. _Grim Reaper…_ He had to admit, it had a nice ring to it.

 _ **The Next Morning**_

The Reapers had finally broken for lunch the following day. Not only had Zack helped Ragna train the previous night he'd even started coming to regular practices. He'd wanted to lash out against the Teacher or at the very least let Tager know, but Ragna told him he'd bear it himself.

As the rest of the Reapers headed inside, Zack approached Ragna who was setting down the buckets and rubbing his sore muscles.

"Aren't we going to head inside Grim?" Zack asked with a smile, still insisting on calling Ragna by his new nickname.

"Can't, Varis won't let me," Ragna said as he headed to where he had hidden his lunch. "I got someone I need to meet for lunch anyways."

"Someone you need to meet?" Zack asked, before getting a cocky grin. "So it's a girl then?"

"...Shut up, it's not like that," Ragna said darkly as he slung the bag over his shoulder.

"It's not huh?" Zack said, still smiling and still not buying it. "Then you won't mind if I tag along?"

"...Do what you want."

Heading outside the wall Ragna headed to where he found Tao on the ground already laying on her stomach which was grumbling. The Reaper recruit then took a loaf of bread out of his bag and tossed it to her.

"Meow!" Tao shouted as she leapt into the air and snatched the food for herself and began chowing down on it with gusto. "Thanks good guy! Hm? Who's this spiky person over here?"

"Spiky person eh?" Zack asked looking at his hair before shrugging. He'd been expecting a girl, but this wasn't what he had in mind. "Well whatever, name's Zack!"

"Tao's Tao Meow!" Tao shouted with glee before turning to Ragna. "Good guy, is Spiky over there your friend?"

"...Something like that," Ragna finally said darkly before drinking his daily potion from Kokonoe.

"Aw c'mon, why do you have to be so grim _Good Guy_?" Zack teased earning a scowl from Ragna. Fortunately, before Zack could tick him off much further, his attention turned to Tao. "So what do you actually look like under that hood anyways Tao?"

"Meow, Tao doesn't feel like telling Spiky guy. It sounds like he bullies Good Guy," she said to him with a taunting smile.

"Oh, that sounds like a challenge!" Zack shouted, causing Ragna to roll his eyes as he ate his lunch. Zack lunged for Taokaka's hood, but she quickly avoided him... well mostly, Zack accidently grabbed her tail and yanked pretty hard.

"MEOW!" she screamed before delivering a powerful kick to Zack's gullet sending him flying a short distance before crashing to the ground.

"Ohhhhhhhh..." he groaned as he struggled to get up. "Was that _really_ necessary?"

"Never grab Tao's tails you… you… YOU DOG PERSON!" Tao shouted, probably the worst insult she could come up with.

"Dog person?" Zack thought aloud, still grimacing at the pain. "Look… I'm sorry for grabbing your tail." Tao's scowl didn't budge. "Hey Ragna, tell her… please?"

Shaking his head Ragna sighed. "Tao don't call him a _Dog Person_." Zack smiled with relief. "The way he acts he's more like a puppy anyways."

"A puppy!?" Zack shouted at the injustice.

"Ohohohohoho!" Tao laughed playfully before skipping around with a new chant. " _Puppy person! Puppy person! Puppy person!_ "

"Stop it!" Zack pleaded before hearing laughter coming from Ragna. "Aren't you supposed to be the Grim Reaper!? Emphasis on GRIM!?"

"With your screw ups it's kind of hard to be," Ragna chuckled.

"Why me…?" Zack groaned, slumping his head and burying his face in his hands. Ragna had to admit, he certainly wasn't feeling as depressed now that he had some friends to laugh with.

 _ **Author's Note: Don't own anything.**_

 _ **Before I go on, I'm part of a petition that's trying to convince Arc Systems to include Dubbing for BlazBlue Central Fiction in a future update. We were up to a thousand last I checked, so if anyone wants to help support us, please head to and keep the conversation going on Twitter at** **Aksys Games and ArcsystemworkU and**_ **_#BlazBlue._**

 _ **Man, it's been a while since I've written for this story. SInce you've waited so long for this one I'm going to post it early instead of waiting until Friday. I might or might not have something to post then, but we'll see. Now for the review responses.**_

 _Yuuki Terumi Ouroboros Master_ : Well I do have plans for those characters now, as well as some changed plans.

 _Shadowedge27_ : *Bows* Thank you, I try.

 _Marconator360_ : Oh, there's a lot to cover down the line. Hopefully everyone will stay with me.

 _Guest42_ : (Munching on Baked Goods) Thank you.

 _Darklight of the 0 Arcana_ : We'll have to see what develops, but I do have plans… upon plans… upon plans… JUST KIDDING! I'M WINGING IT AND SEEING WHAT STICKS!

 _Adv_ : That DOES seem to be popular… Huh, maybe they haven't gotten enough attention.

 _Shirosaki Kizuro_ : Ragna x Hades might be tricky, but I suppose I might have SOME plans.

 _ **Until next time! Ciao!**_


	5. Epic IV: Ability

_Epic IV: Ability_

' _How is he still here!?_ ' Varis thought to himself while his recruits were bus hitting practice dummies on the training field before him. His gaze was not focused on the recruits, but the weakening form of the town's devil… at least the form that _should_ have been weakening. For the last two months that Ragna had been training with the Reaper's he hadn't broken down once in all of that time. Varis had tried increasing the weight Ragna needed to carry in the buckets, added personal training weights to the Reaper's body, and even occasionally forced him to skip his lunch break like he'd done today. ' _Why is nothing working!?_ '

"All right you lot! That's enough practice on those training dummies, we're moving on to person on person sparring! Clear the field!" The recruits headed their drill master's instructions and begun moving the training dummies off of the field. This included Zack, who had started attending all of the regular drills instead of sticking to his own. Hearing heavy footsteps coming from the doorway behind him, Varis didn't even have to turn his head to know who it was. "Tager."

"Varis," Tager responded as he looked into the training field himself. "...Is he always on the training stand?"

"Only when he's causing trouble," the drillmaster responded ambiguously. "Are you just here to check on our local troublemaker?"

"Hardly, I'm here to bring a message," the large half-oni explained. "There's to be a joint training session between your group of recruits and the recruits under Torakaka."

"We're to be fighting the _Sisterhood_?" Varis questioned before shaking his head and laughing. "You can't be serious. You recall what happened when we did this two years ago don't you? They couldn't stand up to us at all."

"They were different groups entirely, Torakaka wasn't even in charge then," Tager reminded him. "And I'm afraid neither of you have any say here. The order came down from the King's hand himself…"

"...Lord Azrael ordered this?" the drillmaster reworded with confusion. "Why would he care about a competition between two groups of cadets?"

"I haven't the slightest idea," Tager told him before turning to leave. "Make sure he's not on the stand tomorrow, I want all of your men at the ready for this duel."

"As you wish," Varis said as the commander left. A moment later, he realized that he might've finally had his solution for getting rid of Ragna. All he needed to do was prove that he wasn't able to keep up with his training regimen and that'd be the end of it. Looking over to Ragna's back as the rest of the recruits trained where he wasn't able to observe, Varis let out a chuckle. "All too easy."

A short while later training had ended for the recruits, per usual Varis didn't let Ragna down from the stand until the equipment had been put away, the rest of the recruits had been briefed on the next day, and waited a few more minutes for good measure.

Rubbing his shoulders and groaning at the soreness, Ragna plopped down on the floor right in front of the stand. He'd been getting used to intense training (punishment) over time, but that didn't mean it was becoming a pleasant experience.

"Giving up all ready?" he heard Zack ask. Looking up, the Reaper recruit saw the spiky black haired youth holding out his hand, which he grasped to assist him in getting to his feet. "I hope you're not out before the real training begins."

"Not a chance," Ragna muttered as forced himself to stay standing. Turning his head to the side, he saw Seno and his group laughing as they headed off the training grounds and into town. "Where the hell are they going?"

"My bet? Out drinking, they never miss a chance to get booze after a harsh day of training in the barracks."

"They think that they've got it bad? Feh," Ragna muttered as he glanced to the stand. "But didn't that asshole Varis say something about a match tomorrow against the _Sisterhood_?"

"Yeah, but I don't think that they're going to be treating it too seriously," Zack admitted. "Way I hear it, the _Sisterhood_ isn't really seen as that much of a threat, especially by the _Reapers._ Last time they had a match it was pretty apparent that the guys were the stronger of the two groups… but I still wouldn't go out for booze tonight."

"Are you kidding? Jubei would kill us both if I missed out on training," Ragna told him and Zack snickered. "C'mon we shouldn't keep the old cat waiting."

"Yeah, we're going to want to be in top form for tomorrow. Need to make sure those ladies see a man who can hold his own in a fight... and maybe snag a few admirers in the process," Zack added with smirk.

"...Don't let Arith hear you say that."

"Wah!? Y-you're not going to tell her are you?" Zack pleaded, looking around nervously in case his girlfriend had indeed overheard his comment. Ragna chuckled at his friend's one-eighty, earning him a solid punch on the arm. "Jerk… I was talking about you anyways."

"Me?" the silver haired _Reaper_ repeated, looking at Zack like his friend was crazy. "What the hell are you takin' about? I'm the _Devil_ remember? Scourge upon the town, waiting out my time until I can destroy the kingdom… that sort of thing. Ringing any bells?"

"I'm just saying, this might be your chance to change a thing or two about yourself," Zack reminded him as the two continued onto Jubei's. "Our squad hates you because of the double beatings that you gave 'em, but look at me and Tao! We get along fine with you, don't we?"

"That's different, you're impossible to get rid of and Tao's going to keep clinging on me for food till the day I die." Ragna never was one for mincing words.

"Glad to know we're so beloved," Zack muttered before he got an idea. "What about Kokonoe?" For once it looked like he'd said just the right thing because Ragna appeared to be visibly shaken. "Strike a nerve did I?"

"She's like a sister to me…" Ragna told him off, trying to end this while he still had some dignity left with the guy.

"LIKE a sister… meaning she means more to you than that?" Zack asked with a haughty grin, angering his friend.

"I'm going to kick your ass when we start training," he promised heatedly, which Zack only laughed at.

"Give me your best shot Grim," he said, annoying Ragna even further with his nickname.

 _ **Meanwhile -Azrael's Personal Study-**_

When it came to his drinks Azrael would only share with one other person and that only happened once in a blue moon. Must've been that kind of a day now, because sitting across from him was King Argus holding a glass of his brother's best liquor.

"So I know you're in here for a reason," he said to the king as he swirled his whiskey around his own glass. "What'd I do wrong this time?"

"Nothing, more like I wanted to know your reasoning for ordering our two newest batches of recruits to duel each other. You know how well this went last time we tried something like this."

"You mean when the _Sisterhood_ had Bolivi-what's-her-face in charge?" Azrael said thinking back. "Yeah, I don't regret making that one step down from the job, she had no idea what she was doing and half of her year left after that little fiasco… Woman could drink though, I'll give her that much."

"Yes, I think Torakaka's made an excellent replacement for her thus far, but I'm sure you'll be able to confirm that yourself tomorrow." Argus took a sip from his glass of liquor, expecting Azrael to make some snarky comment that he intended to, but by the time he'd finished his brother had remained silent. "...There's something else then?"

"Call it a project I'm looking into," Azrael said before crossing his enormous arms while still holding onto his drink. "The Devil in Varis's groups been getting flack ever since he stepped in there, but last I saw him his combat skills weren't that bad, especially not for a kid his age."

"So you're going to make him fight tomorrow to see just how far he's come?" Argus asked before shaking his head. "If you're so curious why not fight him yourself?"

"And crush his head like a bug? That'd end everything right there," Azrael told him. "He ain't ready to give me a good rush yet… but with a little push in the right direction he might get there someday."

"And then what?" Argus demanded downing the last of his glass.

Azrael smiled darkly, casting a shadow across the room. "Then I keep him around to fight until a better score comes around."

 _ **The Next Morning -Training Grounds-**_

"Rrhhh, can't believe you went and busted my shoulder like that," Zack muttered as he gripped the top of his sword arm. "There's no way that I can fight like this…"

"I already told you I'm sorry," Ragna told him bitterly as they waited in the training field. "I know what I said, but I didn't think I'd have done this much damage to you."

"Are you kidding? I thought I was going to die before Kokonoe gave me some of that ointment! I already know that I need to miss out on my training for today at least and all you can do is stand there and act like there's nothing wrong."

"Well you _are_ overreacting, it's not like missing today's going to kill you, all we're doing is having that stupid match anyways," Ragna muttered.

"Yeah, but then I'm going to have to tell everyone I went and got myself hurt, I can't use a sword the day it matters most… aw man, how embarrassing."

"Fine, how about this? If you get called on to go, I'll take your place. I mean I doubt that ass Varis is gonna go for it, but it's worth a try at least."

"Just make sure you don't make me look like a loser that can't even keep it together after a stupid sparring match," Zack groaned as he leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, I'd much rather they see you for the restless puppy that you really are," Ragna told him with a snarky smirk.

"...Hit a guy while he's down why dontcha?" Zack said, his spirits somewhat deflated.

Before long the rest of the _Reapers_ started piling into the building followed shortly thereafter by Tager and Varis. The swordmaster did his usual glare at Ragna which was returned but neither of them said a thing to the other. A short while after that the members of the _Sisterhood_ started entering the training arena themselves. Ragna didn't recognize any of the girls except for Bullet, Tager's daughter, and Tora, who he'd met a while ago. Hearing a soft murmur, he saw that Seno was whispering something to one of his friends and the two had fight hard from breaking into laughs.

' _Idiots_ …' Ragna thought with annoyance. He was about to shove their stupidity aside, but then he noticed the shadow looming over him. "Eh?"

"GOOD GUY!" Tao shouted as she collided into Ragna head on. The _Reaper_ grunted in surprise before he was forced to the ground by the cat on top of him. "Tao didn't think she'd be seeing you so early meow! Didya bring Tao something good to eat? Didya!? Didya!? Ragna growled angrily before throwing the cat off of him. Tao gave a mild yelp as she landed on her rear. "Hey! That's mean! Good guy shouldn't be so moody!"

"And you shouldn't jump me whenever you get the chance!" Ragna shouted at Tao with clear annoyance. "I'm not here to give you food! We're here to spar so let's get this over with!" Getting up to his feet he noticed that most of the _Reapers_ and a few of the girls were laughing at him. "Rgh… Shut up already…"

"If you're that heated then why don't you start us off?" Varis suggested. Something at the swordmaster's eyes didn't sit well with Ragna; he smelled some sort of trap. Scoffing to himself, he headed over to the wall and leaned against it while crossing his arms. "No, eh? Well why don't we let the ladies choose their first opponent?"

"If you insist meow," Tora said before looking to Tager's daughter. "Bullet, why don't you take the first match?"

"Yes Tora," Bullet said, tapping her right shoulder with her left hand as a form of a salute. She walked in front of the men some of them seemed to be leering slightly and it didn't look like many of them had the decency to look her in the eyes. ' _It doesn't look like I've got a lot to work with here…_ ' she thought bitterly. "Fine, I'll take him."

The man she'd selected was Seno of all people, the best and brightest of this group of the _Reapers_ …. yeah right. Seno gave a small smirk apparently not expecting much of a fight as he grabbed a practice sword and headed to meet Bullet between the two groups.

"So sweetheart, what do you use?" Seno asked smugly. Though Bullet's glare to him was much harsher than that of her father's, she eventually gave a small smirk and beckoned him forward with her index finger. "No weapons eh? Well that's fine with me, even if it takes some fun out of it."

"...He's the best you've trained?" Tager asked Varis as Tora came over to stand beside the two men.

"One of them," Varis told him, smirking confidently. ' _These idiots, they don't even realize that I've given all of my men Dragon's Blood potions while we were inside. After I have my men wipe the floor with the Sisterhood I'll send them after Ragna, then we'll see just what Tager thinks of him!_ '

"Mmm…" Tager mumbled apparently deep in thought. "Tora, would you mind heading to find Kokonoe? I have the feeling we'll be needing some of her healing ointments."

"Right away Tager meow," Tora said before leading off at high speeds to find the _Grimalkin_.

"Why the extra caution?" the swordmaster asked as he eyed the two combatants standing at the ready.

"Let's just say I'm worried about my daughter," Tager told them plainly as he kept his eyes on the two, not noticing the demeaning smirk Varis was giving. "Begin!"

Under the effects of _Dragon's Blood_ , Seno's rush forward was exceptionally faster than he normally was. His practice sword cleaved through the air to knock Bullet out in a single attack, but the warrior simply leaned back and avoided the attack altogether. Before he could follow up with a second strike, Bullet sent a devastating punch to Seno's face… yet again breaking his nose. With Ruth's head reeling back, she then swept his legs and made him airborne.

"You're going down!" Bullet roared as she grabbed Seno by his collar and leapt high into the air. Ruth let out a pathetic scream as he was slammed into the ground with enough force to cause the area to shake violently. Seno was out cold and it didn't look like he'd be recovering anytime soon.

"I was right…" Tager grumbled to himself, leaving Varis to sputter at the display in front of him.

"Th-That's crazy!" Zack shouted with wide eyes, even Ragna appeared to be rather impressed. "A-are we supposed to fight that!?"

' _More like we're supposed to hope we don't get killed,_ ' Ragna thought glumly. ' _But what's this feeling I'm getting? It's almost like she's holding back._ '

"Not feeling so confident now, are you boys?" a lady from the _Sisterhood_ said snarkily, knowing full well that the recruits had this coming. "Maybe now you'll think twice before insulting us behind our backs."

"Enough," Bullet said with clear authority and a harsh glare in her eyes, stopping the other woman's taunting. Turning her head, Bullet scanned the rest of the recruits to select her next opponent, eventually her eyes landed on Zack who was sweating in fear of being chosen in his condition. Ragna noticed that she was about to speak out her decision and decided he'd help his wounded friend. Giving a soft punch to Zack's shoulder (little more than a tap), his friend gave a harsh wince letting Bullet know everything she needed to about his condition. "...I'll take the guy on the end there with the two swords."

The match was over just as quickly as the first one, with Bullet putting her opponent in a restraining hold and slamming him painfully to the ground. She continued this, moving from opponent to opponent, defeating them as easily as the last. All the while Ragna continued watching her with the sick feeling in his stomach that this wasn't everything Bullet had to show. Before long the only _Reaper's_ that Bullet hadn't beaten were Zack and himself.

"Looks like I'm up," he muttered as he looked down at the beaten forms of his fellow _Reapers_. Tora still hadn't returned with Kokonoe yet and this meant the recruits needed to deal with their painful wounds. "You sure that you want keep going?"

"What you think I should drop out now that I've gotten warmed up?" Bullet asked him seriously, her eyes analyzing Ragna fiercely. "Aren't you going to grab a weapon?"

"You're fighting unarmed; I'll do the same," he told her without hesitation.

"I'd call that chivalry, but something tells me you're not one to follow codes. It's funny; Tora told me I'd have trouble dealing with you, but from what I've heard you've been spending almost everyday on the stand, unable to learn."

"All the idiots you just fought spent their time learning from Varis, look where it got 'em," Ragna said, earning a fierce glare from the sword instructor. "And drop the almost, every day I've been in here he's taught me nothing. Muscle training he keeps calling it, that's a laugh."

"Regardless I'm not going to go easy on you," Bullet said as she got into a ready position and-

"MEOW!" came the sudden yell from Taokaka. "Tao's had to sit here and have no one to play with while Butt-Lady has all the fun!"

"B-Butt-Lady?" Ragna repeated with wide eyes. The blush on Bullet's face would be impossible to conceal. From where he watched to the chaos unfold, Tager buried his head into his oversized gauntlet and let out a low groan.

"I told you not to call me that!" Bullet shouted at the feline. "And wait your turn!"

"But Butt-Ladyyyyyyyy, Tao wants to fight good guy, let Tao fight nyah!"

"You…" Bullet growled. "Fine, go ahead and fight him. I was done here anyways."

"Nyahahahaha!" Tao laughed as she leapt right in between the two with a single energetic bound. "Tao sees good guy every day for lunch, but this is the first time we've ever played with each other meow!"

"...Are you for real?" Ragna had to ask before he raised his fists. "Well whatever, I'm not really up for 'playing' around!"

"Meow! Now Tao's motivated!" the Kaka warrior shouted as she leapt into the air. Ragna smirked as he winded up a punch to knock out the cat in midair, but something in the gleam in her eyes under the hood made him pause. Ragna barely managed to leap back before her paw struck were he'd been standing a moment ago, causing the ground to give off a strong tremor.

' _Damn! She's a lot tougher than she looks!_ ' Ragna though as he stared at the small crater that Tao had created. While he was still in midair Tao leapt again at Ragna, catching him before he could touch ground and sending them both against a nearby wall. Forcing himself to stay focused, he saw Tao reeling up a punch an instant before she threw it at his face. Diving to the side, Ragna dodged the attack that was strange enough to cause the bricks to crack. ' _AND she's this fast!?_ '

"Meow! C'mon good guy! Play with Tao!" the cat shouted as she again lunged at Ragna. Being ready this time, the _Reaper_ recruit fell backwards, landing on his back to avoid this attack. When Tao was right above him he sent a powerful kick upwards, striking the cat in her stomach. Tao took the full force of the kick and flipped over before landing on the ground while managed to leap to his feet. "Meow! Now you're getting the hang of it!"

"You're crazy! Damn cat…" Ragna grumbled before Tao lunged at him once more. He sent a solid punch straight for Tora's face, but she seemed to leap again without touching the ground and avoid it completely. ' _She can change direction midair!?'_ The cat then flipped in forward before bringing both of her arms down on Ragna's head.

"Gotcha Good Guy!" Tao shouted with glee, that was before she realized her strike hadn't sent Ragna to the ground. The _Reaper_ recruit then let out a roar before punching Tao from below and sending her spinning into the sky. While she was airborne Ragna then unleashed a roundhouse kick, hitting Tao and keeping her in mid air. Immediately shifting his footing for the best result, he then threw a haymaker punch at the Kaka warrior that landed dead on and sent her flying back.

"Meow!" Tao shouted as she rolled on the ground after that last strike. She'd managed to make it to her feet as soon as she'd stopped and managed to take a good look at Ragna. From beneath his white hair he appeared to be bleeding from where Tao had landed her initial strike and he was starting to have trouble standing. "You okay good guy? You don't look too good…"

"I'll be fine…" Ragna told her as he wiped the blood away. He then gave a small smirk before rushing forward. "Let's finish this!"

"Tao's time is noew!" the kaka shouted in return as she met the charge.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"  
"NYAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

 _ **Thud**_

...Needless to say Ragna was clearly flabbergasted as Tao fell to the ground five feet in front of him in the middle of their charge. It had happened so suddenly he was still having trouble processing what had happened right in front of his face.

" _Meooooooooooooow,'_ Tao bleakly sounded from the ground, almost like she was in pain.

"Don't tell me…" Ragna began, which was then rewarded by a short growl from the cat's stomach. "She's hungry… she passes out in the middle of a fight… because she's hungry."

"That's not really that odd for Tao to do meow," he heard Tora say. Turning his head, he say that Tora had indeed returned with Kokonoe and her kit of healing ointments which she was starting to use on the _Reaper_ recruits. "She has a lot of energy when she gets going, but if she doesn't eat a large meal beforehand this happens. Meow."

' _He's not bad,'_ Bullet thought as she continued to analyze Ragna while he caught his breath. ' _Most people go down after taking a single solid punch from Taokaka, but he's managed to keep standing and keep up with her speed. Tora mostly uses Tao as an example to let warriors tire themselves out and survive until the right moment, but he tried beating her as if she could keep this up in a real fight like how I fight her._ '

Letting out a final sigh of relief and craning his neck to get a few pops out, Ragna got back into a ready stance. "So I get to chose my next match right?"

"Idiot, sit out on the sidelines," Ragna heard Varis order. If you rushing in after taking a hit like that you won't last long."

"Says the guy who kept putting me on the stand for hours on end," Ragna grumbled before he glanced towards Bullet. "You don't have a problem if I fight you last do you?"

"...Just don't keep me waiting for too long," she told him nonchalantly. Ragna smirked in response.

"Alright, I'll take on the one with the spear then."

The lady in question simply nodded before getting on the other side of the training field and readying her spear. Ragna stood on the other side of the field and raised his fists once more.

"The local _Devil_ beating on innocent women, typical," Ragna heard Seno comment from the sidelines. He was about to shout something at the antagonizer, but in the end he simply chuckled. "Think it's funny?"

"Why don't you fight her?" he asked with a cocky tone. His only answer was Seno's silence, but that in itself spoke volumes. "Thought so."

"Begin!" Tager called from above and the two immediately leapt at each other. "Varis."

"What is it?" the swordmaster demanded.

"...Perhaps we've overestimated your abilities as a teacher," Tager told him bluntly, causing Varis to freeze where he stood. "Ragna seems to be byfar the most calm and collected of your group and every way you look at it you've left the least of an impact on him."

"Looks can be deceiving commander," Varis said back. "Haven't you often told us those exact words?"

"True enough," the large man admitted before a dull thwack was heard from the sparring field. Glancing back to the two, he saw that the spear wielding woman was already on the ground while Ragna remained on his feet. The two fighters seemed to exchange insults for a good moment before the _Reaper_ recruit finally let out a laugh and held his hand out to help his opponent to her feet. She seemed to have thought of rejecting the offer, but eventually took his hand and rose, now taking to him on more equal footing. "Looks like he's made an ally."

"Th-that's a large assumption," the instructor tried to deny as another member of the _Sisterhood_ stepped forward to duel Ragna. "The best you could say is he's… he's…"

"Earning their respect meow?" Tora questioned. "That was someone I've come to know rather well, meow. She's like many of the girls in the _Sisterhood_ ; their mother's left to raise them with no memories of who their fathers were. She's never really been that trusting of men, but it seems like your _trouble_ student is leaving an impact on her… meow."

' _Washouts would group together,_ ' Varis thought as Tager initiated the next duel. The swordmaster merely blinked before Ragna seemed to move from where he was standing to having a haymaker stopping just short of his opponent's face. She appeared to be startled for a good moment before dropping her practice blade. ' _D-damn it… Where's he getting this speed!?_ '

"I'd thought that cat person had given up his mantle of the trainer of kings a long time ago… meow," Tora said making Varis grit his teeth even further at the outrage. "You can't control who he teaches, remember?"

"True enough…" he begrudgingly admitted. It was well known throughout the kingdom that Jubei's life far exceeded that of a normal human, even by the standards of his own race. While he was a cat beastkin like Tao and Tora, his blood was that of a rare sub-species giving him a lifespan that could last centuries. He'd become a well known warrior early in his life and his training was so potent it was reserved only for the royal families and his 'special cases.' ...But throughout history, Azael was the only one to leave the beastkin's training only a week in.

The rest of Ragna's matches proceeded similarly to Bullet's; he managed to win his fights with ease and fought at his full. Before long it was him against the tan skinned woman once more.

"Are you still going to come at me without a sword?" Bullet asked him as she cracked her knuckles and stepped up to face him.

"Why wouldn't I? You wanted a fistfight; I'll give you one," Ragna told her with confidence as he got into a ready fighting stance.

"Heh, maybe I can finally cut loose with someone," Bullet said with a smirk that almost seemed… hungry.

' _Aw crap…_ ' Ragna internally moaned.

"BEGIN!"

The instant the call had been issued, Bullet rushed towards at Ragna and unleashed a kick to his head that was so fast it screamed as it sailed through the air. The _Reaper_ recruit barely managed to dodge the attack by ducking under Bullet's leg before punching her in the gut and following up with a haymaker that sent her flying back. As she skidded to a stop, Ragna tired to follow up with a lunging fist, but Bullet caught it and stopped it before it could hit her. She then smashed Ragna with a powerful kick and sent him flying upward before leaping into the air catching him and slammed him back into the ground.

"Gah!" Ragna grunted as he hit the floor. As he quickly rose of the ground he barely managed to dodge the flaming hot kick Bullet had sent to his face. Jumping back with wide eyes, he was startled to see that Bullet was surrounded in a strange fiery aura. "Wh-what the hell is that!?"

"If we're going to fight seriously I'm going to use everything I've got!" Bullet shouted as the aura increased in ferocity. "I hope you're ready!" She then charged Ragna once more, traveling even faster and stronger than before.

"I know she said that she was going to cut loose, but that seems a little excessive meow," Tora said with slight worry as she watched the two.

"W-what even is that?" Varis stuttered as Bullet sent out a blast of flames which caught Ragna on his side and badly seared his body.

"An elemental ability, one based off her blood," Tager said emotionlessly as he continued to watch his daughter's battle. "As a descendant of an Oni, Bullet has some ability in their magics through the elemental forces in her blood, namely the use of fire. That aura around her isn't powerful enough to burn her enemies on its own, but the boost it give to Bullet's speed and power is… intense."

A painful grunt was heard from across the arena as Ragna was blasted into one of the train yards walls from a well placed punch from Bullet. He violently coughed blood from the damage he'd taken before looking up and glare at the woman from the _Sisterhood_.

"Looks like you're done…" Bullet said as the fiery aura around her continued to blaze.

"Rrrgh… YOU WISH!" Ragna shouted as he leapt with at her pure ferocity.

' _He's coming right for a frontal attack? Then I'll blast him away!'_ Bullet thought as she charged fire into her arm and shot it at the _Reaper_. At the range she fired it, the hit should have been guaranteed, but Ragna dodged out of the way with perfect timing. ' _Ugh! Fast! He'll go for my legs so I'll-!_ '

Instead of attacking her from below like Bullet had thought he would Ragna flipped himself into the air and performed and aerial kick that went over her guard. As Bullet felt the blow, Ragna followed with a second strike sending her up into the air. While she was still airborne the _Reaper_ performed a powerful uppercut and launched her higher before leaping up after the lady warrior. Punching upwards, he caught Bullet in the face before spinning with an axe kick that sent her to the ground. He landed a short distance from her and it looked like she was having trouble getting up.

"Looks like she's out of steam, meow," Tora said. "Well done Bullet, that'll do for neow."

"But Tora, I can keep going!" Bullet protested as she tried to rise to her feet. "Rgh…"

"Don't push yourself, this match is inarguably close," Tager said, before eyeing Ragna who didn't deny it with a short nod. "Both groups are dismissed for the rest of today… Unless Zack would like to-"

"I'M GOOD!" Zack shouted, frantically waving his hands in front of him.

"Then it's settled," the commander said. He was about to leave there, but he gave one last long look to Varis. "I'd suggest you look for alternative forms of training, your regular's seem to be having trouble…"

"I-I'll consider it…" Varis assured him as Tager and the other's left, leaving the man alone with his thoughts.

 _ **Jubei's Yard -That afternoon-**_

"Your shoulder doing any better?" Ragna asked as he took a couple of practice swings.

"It feels better, but I think it might be a while before I'm swinging a sword again," Zack told him. "Ah well, at least Aerith's insisting on sticking around to make sure it's healing right."

"Heh, maybe I should bust you up more often," Ragna said to his best friend with a smirk as Jubei came outside. "Back from your cat nap?"

"Bright eyed and bushy tailed to boot," Jubei said to him. "How was the fightin' today?"

"Better than usual, our guys went down so fast Varis didn't have a choice other than letting me fight," Ragna told him. "I gotta say though, those girls sure know how to fight."

"That makes me happy to hear, meow." Ragna had barely heard Tora's voice before he felt Tao plow into him and send him to the ground. "Tao…"

"Good guy! You didn't give Tao any food today! That's mean!" The cat shouted in his face, violently shaking the _Reaper_. Ragna growled before throwing Tao off him him, this time the cat landed on her feet. "Meow!"

"Seriously Tao? Twice in one day?" he groaned as he slowly rose from the ground. "Hey Tora, what brings you here?"

"Well after watching you fight I thought that I should pay my old master a visit, meow," the elder Kaka warrior said before she looked to Jubei. "Nice to see you again cat person."

"Likewise Tora, 'was beginning to think you'd forgotten all about me," Jubei said with a soft smile on his face. "I 'ear you've been teaching the _Sisterhood_ , how, how have they been doin'?"

"Rather well if today was anything to go off of," Tora said to him. "My girls all took their fights today with the seriousness they deserved and I'd say we've managed to show Varis's recruits… Bullet came rather close to beating your private apprentice though."

"No kidding, I'm still feeling pretty burnt from that," Ragna muttered before seeing Tao had approached without him noticing and was right in his face. "...Personal space mean anything to you?"

"Purr-shunel spade? What's that? Is it tasty!?" Tao demanded as she appeared to be drooling. "Eh, Tao can eat after she plays with good guy some more! Meow!"

"Another match?" Ragna repeated, seeing to weigh his options. "Well… I mean Zack is outta commision for a while, so why not?"

"Yay! Good guy's gonna play with Tao!" the kaka warrior said excitedly as she appeared to be bouncing all over the place.

"Whoa Tao! Bring it down a bit will ya?" the _Reaper_ recruit said to her, but despite the words he was smirk and appeared to be a bit more a peace.

"Looks like I'm right; you DO have a thing for cats after all." Seeing Ragna's body go rigid at the claim, Zack smirked with confidence… before screaming out in pain at the left hook Ragna delivered to his bad shoulder. "GAH!"

"Shit!" Ragna exclaimed as he realized where he'd hit. "Someone grab Kokonoe! We gotta get ointment on that!"

"N-no rush," Zack said weakly as he kept support on his arm. "Just... dying over here… Thud." Zack then hit the floor.

"Did… Did he just _say_ thud?" Luckily Ragna's questioning of the absurdity and Zack's current peril was enough for Jubei to ponder the meaning of the youth's earlier words.

 _ **Later -Castle Walls-**_

Varis sat on the edge of one of the castle's tallest wall, drinking alone. Normally the swordmaster wasn't one for the pleasantries of alcohol, but he wouldn't decline an offer if it came from his superior officers. This time he did it, not as a form of social activities, but because his problems seemed so much further away when he did so. All of his efforts to get the _Devil_ evicted from his study had failed miserably, worse yet Tager seemed to know the full story and the _Devil_ and the _Sisterhood_ had both progressed further than he could've imagined.

"Damn that cat," he muttered before taking another long swig out of the bottle. Had he said that before Jubei had married and someone had heard him his head would likely pike by morning, but that was before Jubei had entered a cross species relationship. Either way he couldn't care less right now with his position in jeopardy.

"Look at what's become of the mighty swordmaster," a sudden voice came from behind Varis surprising him badly enough to drop his liquor over the edge of the wall. "Oi, you're jumpy tonight, aren't you?" Azrael said with reservedness.

"Rrr… What are you doing here?" Varis demanded before seeing the bottle he was being offered.

"If you're trying to drown your problems in alcohol you might as well do it right," the king's brother said as Varis took the bottle and popped the cork off he watched as the swordmaster took a long swig from the bottle before pausing and glaring at it. "What's with that look?"

"This… this tastes pretty weak," Varis told him.

"Heh, do you want it or not," Azrael said with a chuckle. Varis shrugged and took another long swig. "It's your fault too, not just the cat's."

"What on earth are you-" Varis began before he realized. "You're talking about the _Devil?_ How the hell is it my fault he's still here!? Since he's made it inside I've done nothing but make it my goal to isolate him and break his body!"

"That would have broken the body of any other recruit, but he's a different case," Azrael told him as he leaned over the wall. "The kid's got the old blessing of regeneration, might not be as strong as the original one was supposed to be, but he's got it… though I can't say if he even knows it."

"If he has the blessing then…" Varis began as his eyes grew wide.

"Bingo… All this time you've thought that you were slowly breaking him down by putting him on that stand, but you just realized that you've only been making him stronger. His body can adapt to that sort of strain over time and it can grow stronger than what it was before as a result… making it all the easier for the cat to work his own magic."

"Damn it…" Varis muttered as he started to feel a slight buzz in his head from the drinking.

"Yeah you've toughened him up for me… but that means that it's time for you to step out," Azrael told him.

"Step out? What are you-?" Varis couldn't finish his sentence as his vision blurred lurched over. "Y-you poisoned me!?"

"Poisoned? Do you really think that I'd stoop that low?" the king's hand asked with a dark chuckle. "Though I gotta say, drinking _White Water_ like that just isn't healthy for anyone other than me."

"W-white wa-wa-" Varis drunkenly slurred, a trail of drool emerging from his mouth.

" _White Water_ , this rare stuff doesn't taste that strong starting off and you don't notice anything, but when the effects kick in they can leave a mark on you… and you've had enough to make a man blind," Azrael said with a dark laugh as he took a step towards the swordmaster.

"S-sthay b-bock," Varis slurred with fright as he tried to go for his sword, but he couldn't even grab the handle in his condition.

"Come on, I'm not going to hurt you…" Azrael said as he towered over the man, giving off the shadow of some kind of demon. This was the sort of fear he could instill, it was enough to cause a drunk man to freeze to the spot. "... _I just want to give you a friendly pat on the back_."

He barely tapped Varis, but Azrael's power was more than enough to send the swordmaster over the edge, leading for his victim to crack his skull the moment he made contact with the ground.

"That's nicely wrapped up," the _Mad Dog_ stated. "Now… Let's see if I can't bring that cat out of retirement…"

 _ **Author's Note: Don't own BlazBlue… or Zack.**_

 _ **Well this chapter took a while to get out, sorry about that. With an upcoming move I didn't have much time to work with, but now that I'm settled I feel like I can put my feet up for a bit.**_

 _ **No author reviews this chapter, but I welcome feedback all the same.**_

 _ **Ciao!**_


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